Of Each Day's Growing
by Arigazi
Summary: Slash, HP/LM, DM/OMC, Sequel to Of Love's Bestowing. Summary inside. On a vacation to the Elvin Realm Draco finds his mate, and Harry and Lucius become closer through their future child, but an adversary isn't happy about their presence and retaliates.
1. Chapter 1

Sequel to Of Love's Bestowing.

**Summary**: On a vacation to the Elvin Realm, Draco finds his mate, and Harry and Lucius become closer through their future child, but someone isn't happy about the veelas and wizard taking up residence in the castle and conversing with the royal family; and they are willing to go to any lengths to eliminate the alien threat to their Realm.

**Pairings**: HP/LM and DM/OMC

**Warnings**: Slash, language, mentions of MPREG -I think that's it.

**Disclaimer**: J.K. Rowling owns all the Harry Potter characters. I'm only borrowing them. No profit is being made off of this story or any like it.

A/N: This sequel picks up right where Of Love's Bestowing left off... well, more like a few hours after.

**A/N 2: I've editted this story, mostly for grammar purposes, but as of Chapter 4, the plot has changed slightly. It's not a huge deal and you don't have to reread it if you don't want to, but I've changed the events of Chapter 4 and added a few scenes. However, mostly everything is superficial and you can just read on from there if you want.**

* * *

Chapter 1

The tantalizing scent of blueberries had Draco stumbling like a zombie from his room, half dressed, and aimlessly following the wonderful aroma that only got better as he found his way into the Dining Room. As he entered, he noticed his father holding a forkful of blueberry waffles and whipped cream to Harry's mouth. The brunet was steadfast against being fed like he was a child and was half-heartedly glaring at the blonde patriarch of the family.

"Oh, come on, Harry! Please? Just this once."

"Damn it, fine, but just this once." Harry leaned forward and took the contents of the fork into his mouth slowly, trying not to dribble down his chin. As he took the bite, Harry's gaze caught sight of Draco and he smiled around his mouthful as he leaned back.

After finishing the bite, Harry wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin, smiled, and greeted the younger blonde.

"Hey! Draco, we had the cook make some blueberry waffles; would you like some?" The gleam in Harry's eye told Draco that the other wizard knew very well what smell had woken him up, but the younger veela ignored him and sat down across from the brunet anyway.

"Good morning, Draco," Lucius began, but after a glare from Draco, they could both tell he hadn't forgotten being woken up so early and he certainly knew how bad his appearance was, so it definitely would not be a _good_ morning until he had showered and changed, but… these waffles were a start.

He pulled a few giant waffles from the stack on the plate in the middle of the table, then pulled some syrup and whipped cream toward himself, willing his father and Harry to go on talking and pretend as if he wasn't there.

Harry seemed to have heard his thoughts, or read them, because he turned back to Lucius and frowned again.

"Alright, that was the first and last time. I don't need to be fed my food, thank you," he announced referring to a few moments before.

Lucius pouted, but secretly wouldn't give up. He would try again in the future and get Harry to like the idea. It might even make bed-play a bit more _interesting_. Speaking of play… his back felt a bit sore from their _play_ in the shower. Harry had had him up against the tiles in the shower… he smiled at the memory of their little frisk. He would be returning the favor _very_ soon.

"So, what are you two doing today?" Draco asked once he'd finish one waffle and was already working on the next. His eyes seemed a bit wider and he sounded less cranky.

Lucius pulled himself from his reverie, catching only the last words of his son's sentence, but it was enough.

"Today? Oh, we'll probably change into owls and play tag in the Ministry," Lucius responded dryly.

Draco's gaze tightened on his father. "The cynicism was unnecessary."

Before either blonde could say anything else, Harry butted in, "Actually, Draco, why don't we have a bit of a game of Quidditch? We should all pack some time before the end of the day… er, you are coming with us, correct?" Draco nodded once with a small smile. "Well, then we can have a bit of fun, then pack, sleep, and be off before dawn!"

"I don't know about the Quidditch game though." Draco sighed. "It's a bit boring just trying to catch a snitch. I'd rather be a Beater, but that's not much fun with only two people." An evil glint entered Draco's eyes as he narrowed them seductively. "Then again, I'd be aiming both bludgers at…" The blonde glanced at his scowling father and shrugged, giving up his idyllic plans of finally creaming Harry in a Quidditch game. "Or even three people if Father wants to play," he muttered, continuing his earlier thoughts.

"Well…" Harry looked indecisive. He seemed to want to say something, but didn't know what the blondes would think. Lucius thought it was a very attractive look, but he wondered what his mate was thinking and wished he could read thoughts. Occlumency was just such a draining mind game and he didn't have his wand anyway; it was upstairs… somewhere… hopefully not twisted in the sheets…

"Tell us what's on your mind," Draco said before Lucius could cut in on the brunet's thoughts.

"Well, we could… you know, invite more people for the day." Harry saw that the idea instantly made both blondes uneasy, so he rejected the thought and stood quickly with a smile. "Well, nevermind; I'm off to pick through your library. Come fetch me for lunch or something." Before either Malfoy could have a proper thought, the time had passed; Harry was out the door and out of shouting range.

"That went smoothly." Draco tone was sharpened with sarcasm as he turned to his father, more frustrated with the situation itself than himself or his father.

"I couldn't think of a response, really. For one thing I don't want company. I don't really want to ruin our family peace that we have, and I feel like inviting others in will ruin what Harry and I have built. What if I say something wrong to someone he invites here? … I can't believe I'm worrying about this. This is ridiculous. I don't bloody care if what I say hurts their feelings, but if they then upset Harry because they're upset…! Another thing… I don't want to share him. I'd rather strip him down and tie him to the bed in my quarters-"

Draco didn't really want to think of that kind of thing. Any kind of image of his father naked was not pleasant and it just led to dirtier thoughts… places he just didn't want to go. He did understand though. "You don't want to share him," he concluded, cutting his father off before he could dive into more detail than Draco needed to hear. "You don't want them to influence his thoughts of you in a bad way. You don't want strangers in the house… Mudbloods and Weasels alike."

If Harry had heard him talking like this, he would probably have gotten a good whack to the back of the head, but he always restrained himself around his friend… when had that happened? When had he started thinking so nicely and considerately? He should really stop being so nice… but it was just so hard to act differently than himself around Harry and his father. Harry made everything seem like it was fine. Like it was alright to be relaxed and unwind around your family instead of being uptight –worrying about your posture, or whether you hair was in perfect order, or how your appearance was at the table, or whether you had a bit of lint on your shirt. How had the brunet brought him so much comfort, safety, serenity…? They had both changed considerably since Harry's visit.

… Harry deserved this…

Draco looked up to his father, half-asleep and grumpy. He managed to pull a smirk from somewhere and his father returned it in kind.

"For him," he declared.

"For him," Lucius agreed with a nod.

* * *

Harry stopped in the loo on his way to the library. After doing his business, he washed his hands and splashed some water on his face. He wasn't going to pout and he wasn't going to bring down the day. They were heading off to the Elvin world tomorrow, and Harry didn't want to ruin the travel there by being a grump today. So Lucius and Draco didn't want a bunch of horny teenagers and a handful of nosey Aurors in their home. Who would? He couldn't blame them for wanting some space. Harry looked at himself kind of deeply as he began to think of things from their point of view.

They were purebloods. They were probably the types to plan things with weeks, maybe months of time to prepare. Dropping an idea on them like this was probably more trouble than Harry considered it would be. Food would have to be prepared promptly, space made available, certain objects hidden (knowing Draco, he would probably think to hide all of the breakable things as well), entertainment would have to be provided, then, of course, there's also the fact that they would have to put up with said company.

Harry sighed and shrugged. He saw his friends sporadically on weekends… sometimes… every couple of months… usually… kind of.

Besides, Draco hadn't seen his father in an entire year; it wouldn't be nice to just obstruct their time of solitude and happiness by throwing in a bunch of _Harry's_ friends.

Harry nodded a few times sternly. What a selfish bunch of nonsense he had been contemplating. He felt like a heel for bringing it up at all and he promised himself he would apologize at lunch, but right now he had his mind set on a hot-and-bothered kind of romance novel he had found in the library. It _must_ have belonged to Narcissa and she had left it behind, because he sure couldn't picture either Draco or Lucius reading that. It was the kind of story that was masked with a plot before it got to the good stuff, and, frankly, Harry pictured both blondes being far too impatient for the good parts to be able to read through the rest of it.

He wiped his hands with a towel and left the bathroom with a flourish in his step and ideas for later streaming through his head.

* * *

_The things I do for you, Potter,_ Draco thought as he stared up at Granger's house. The woman had no life –or so he had perceived from their conversation before- so he assumed she would be home, even though he hadn't actually told her he was coming. Just as long as she didn't smack him, Draco thought he would be fine.

Looking over the house, Draco couldn't help but think that it was a terrible cross between absolute Muggle and gravity defying Weasel the way the roof overhang came out so far. There were far too many chimneys for it to look strictly Muggle, but the way that there were so many of them on the multitude of roofs up there made Draco think of a cross between a Victorian age home and a Muggle factory. There were too many curtains from what Draco could see, but not enough windows. You couldn't properly tell how many floors it had –which brought a certain Weasley quality to it- but it still seemed to suit the block. Draco sneered at how he was now comparing Muggle and Weasley properties as if he actually gave a damn. He needed a life.

Draco stepped up to the door, squared his shoulders back, ran a hand over his flawless hair to make sure it was in place, and knocked on the door sharply.

It took Hermione so long to answer the door, Draco thought that she might actually be out of the house.

She didn't seem too shocked to see Draco there until she looked around for Harry and didn't see him. Then she just stared at him in a perplexed manner.

Draco wondered for a moment, how normal it was supposed to be for any random Slytherin to show up at Granger's house, whether Harry was accompanying them or not.

"Draco, can I help you with something?"

"Actually," Draco responded in a somewhat clipped voice, "you can." He paused – hoping that she would be able to manage enough courtesy to let him in instead of discussing business on the porch.

"Won't you come in?" She asked effortlessly after less than a moment of pause. Draco was pleased to see that she still had manners, even for him.

After Draco had entered, Hermione guided him to the room where they had sat to talk before when Harry had escorted him here.

He sat opposite of Granger, sitting comfortably in the lounge chair, yet still as poised as any aristocrat should be. He familiarized himself with his surroundings with just a quick glance then returned his attention to the brushy-haired brunet sitting before him on the edge of a couch, leaning on her knees with her elbows as she picked at whatever was under her nails with worry. She obviously saw Draco's visit as providing some kind of traumatic news if he came without Harry and uninvited.

"Well, Hermione…" Draco tasted the name on his tongue for a moment. She had told him to call her by her name, but he was still uncomfortable with it and the friendly atmosphere it brought with it.

She bobbed her head once by way of showing him it was alright to use her name and he should move on already.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

She seemed startled, and yet relieved. It wasn't something bad. Well, that was good. Harry hadn't been hit by a hex, broken any bones, or anything else unpleasant.

"What is it that you need, Draco?" she asked with a pleasant smile coloring her face a bit.

"You see…" Draco began and led into his plans with her smiling getting brighter and brighter as he went on.

* * *

Sitting in the comfortable overly-plush chair he had been in for the past three hours, reading the romance novel that wasn't juicy enough to get his rocks off, but good enough to keep his attention through most of the book, Harry was beginning to fall asleep. He contemplated taking a nap then decided he would rather go enjoy the company of his blondes.

As he considered his company like this, Harry smirked proudly. They were kind of his blondes, weren't they? Until Draco got together with his mate, he was kind of Harry's too. Heck, Draco would probably always belong to him in some way because they were best friends and they were connected on some weird veela level too. Harry smiled in a way that he had seen Lucius smile many times before , probably thinking more along the lines of 'Harry's mine,' rather than 'My blondes.' It was still nice though.

It would probably be one of the few times Harry, Lucius, and Draco would hang out, only as three, once Daeron becomes part of the picture and Draco refuses to un-stick his mate from his side.

Harry thought about what pranks he could play on Draco as he called a house-elf to him and asked for a glass of water.

After a long contemplative stare out the extravagant window in the library, the Auror decided it was far too nice of a day to stay inside. Whether 'his blondes' wanted to go with him or not, he was going to go outside, and perhaps for a run around the house. If he didn't do some serious physical exercising soon he was going to start falling out of shape… hard. To be able to run ten miles in less than an hour without a break, it took some maintenance work… more regularly than he had been doing lately. It was completely his fault if he could barely run a mile without huffing and puffing now. How long had it been? Two weeks since he'd bothered to do anything close to exercising? That sorry attempt at a Quidditch match with Lucius didn't count. The only reason he broke a sweat that day was because he was clothed in a winter uniform in the middle of August in seventy degree weather with the sun glaring right at him for an hour.

So, a run sounded nice.

An elf popped in with a tall glass of water for him, and Harry took it before deciding that he would head outside after he finished this paragraph… maybe after this page… maybe after this chapter… maybe after the water was gone… the book _was_ almost over, maybe…

An hour later he decided that he should just stop here and leave the library before he was stuck there all day, letting the beautiful weather go to waste. If nothing else, it sounded like a good idea to lounge around on a bench, or on the grass with his mate, under a tree somewhere.

He folded the corner of the page over –because he knew Draco hated it when he did that (there were bookmarkers all over the library, so that no matter how lazy you were there was always one in reach)- then got up from his comfy chair and headed for the door to the library.

Time for some fresh air.

* * *

Just as Harry was shutting the door to the library, he heard someone call his name from down the hall. He perked up and looked over to see his mate coming toward him from around the corner with a mischievous smirk in place.

"Hello, love," Harry called to the blonde with a smile. "I was just thinking of you."

Lucius loved the warm feeling that spread through him as Harry told him that. "Really?" he queried nonchalantly, not showing how the simple phrase had affected him at all. "You were thinking?"

Harry chuckled deep in his throat and elbowed his mate gently for the pun. "Hey, I wouldn't be knocking other people for their lack of thoughts there, Blondie."

The veela took a moment to look affronted that his pure-blooded aristocratic blonde self could be lacking the ability to think. It only lasted a moment before he smiled warmly at his lover, reaching out to stroke his mate's neck tenderly.

"Well, perhaps I was thinking of you first," the blonde responded casually.

"I suppose I don't have a problem with that." He smirked before reaching his arm up to Lucius' neck and pulling the blonde down for a deep kiss. When they parted they embraced for a long tender moment before parting in unison to continue with the day. "So, how about lunch? I'm hungry. And where's the brat? I have a few pranks I'd like to play on him before we leave tomorrow."

Lucius barked a sharp laugh. "He's in the gardens waiting for us to join him for lunch."

"Oh! Lunch outside. That's a great idea!" Harry brightened at the thought of the warm sunshine and picnic-like quality the idea merited.

* * *

As Harry reached for the doorknob leading to the outside stone patio, he stopped. He felt Lucius' anxiety from behind him, and he felt his own Auror senses tingle as his hand rested on the door.

"Did you forget how to open doors suddenly, or are we just standing here to annoy Draco?" Lucius asked impassively, trying to remain as calm and suave as possible. He didn't take into account that Harry would be on guard and suspect something.

Harry shrugged his worry away. Malfoy Manor was well warded –Harry had inspected the wards himself. There was no danger that could get through the wards uninvited that an Auror and two veelas couldn't handle. Just the same, he casually reaffirmed that his wand was indeed resting in its holster and his spare was coolly pressing against his calf. With a swift turn and shove the door was open and Harry was walking out onto the large stone patio.

The patio was a huge semicircle with thick stone railings rimming the edge, only breaking to allow for a grand staircase leading to the garden below another ten feet down and aimed at the fountain in the distance. Across from the entrance Harry and Lucius had come in was a pair of glass French doors that led to the conservatory and to the kitchen from there. In the middle of the patio was an intricately carved stone table with several comfortable looking chairs situated around it and an umbrella of blue cloth keeping the bright sun out of Draco's face as he drank wine and surveyed Harry curiously from his seated position.

"Took you long enough," he muttered grumpily. "I could have eaten an entire meal in the time it took you to walk down here, Potter."

After a lingering survey of the garden and patio, Harry was sure there were no dangers in sight, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He sent a smirk over to the younger blonde and tilted his head up cockily.

"Had to stop for a quick shag on our way. I told the house-elves to change your sheets after we were done," he responded smoothly as he and Lucius found their seats with Draco at the table.

Draco glared at Harry for even the suggestion of such an idea, but he knew that his room was far too out of the way for a shag even if Harry were telling the truth.

A quick glance at his father further proved Harry a liar. The man had looked scandalized at the thought of the idea, but further consideration seemed to make him more amenable to the general idea, but perhaps in a different location.

He could also tell that the barb was half-hearted as Harry's attention was definitely on other things. His eyes kept darting around the outdoor area as if he kept hearing twigs snapping in the distance. Draco had never seen Harry this nervous before, especially at the Manor.

"So, can we eat now, Your Majesty?" Draco demanded of his friend with his typical Malfoy sneer.

Harry sighed, giving Draco a long-suffering sigh. "But of course! I would never dream of trying to come between you and food." Without skipping a beat he continued: "I might lose an arm if I tried."

They glared at each other for all of five seconds before Harry felt a gentle tug on the tail of his shirt. He looked down to his right and gasped.

There beside him stood a six-month-old little redhead with deep brown eyes and a big yawn drowning out his face for a moment. Harry picked up the babe in one swift movement, glancing at his blondes' innocent smirks as he then stood with the child in his arms and turned back around to face the door he and Lucius had just entered through minutes before.

Harry cried out with joy before a chorus of "SURPRISE!" drowned out anything that he was about to say.

* * *

Lucius and Draco shared a quick glance as Harry bent down to pick up the child. Lucius admired how gorgeous his mate looked holding the baby. Of course the child was all wrong… far too many freckles, and the red hair was a flop of a frizzy mess… maybe with blonde hair, and Harry's skin?

The greatest joy for Lucius and Draco came when their Harry stood up and turned around to see all of his closest friends standing together in a group and shouting, 'Surprise!' The look on Harry's face was more than worth all of the insufferable Gryffindors and teenage brats along with said-brats' kids they would have to deal with.

* * *

Flashback:

Neville looked around at all of the expensive vases, gold-trimmed paintings, extravagant woodwork, high vaulted ceilings, and priceless rugs that were probably handcrafted, and he couldn't help but fidget for what felt like the millionth time.

A sudden smack to the back of his head brought his thoughts away from how much it would cost him to have to replace anything that he might break by mistake. His gaze shot to Ginny who was scowling at him.

"If you fidget one more damn time, I'm going-" she began, but was cut off by her slightly older brother.

"Oh, come on, Gin." Ron nudged her and gestured around. "This place is so rich it's creepy. I don't even want to think about replacing anything."

The group of waiting Gryffindors collectively muttered their agreements.

"I'm still really confused," Seamus added.

"What else is new?" Dean asked sarcastically as he eyed a sneering portrait of one of Malfoy's relatives.

"Why are we surprising Harry at _Malfoy's_ house again?" the Irishman queried, completely ignoring his friend.

"Because Harry is always working too hard, he missed his friends, and because Draco has grown a soft-spot for Harry, as we all have, he conspired with Mr. Malfoy to help Harry have a nice day with his friends before he goes away on business again," Hermione snipped with her arms crossed. "I realize it seems a bit odd coming to Malfoy Manor, but why do you have to grumble about it?"

"Yeah!" Ron nodded toward Hermione. "Ignore the blondes if you don't want to talk to them. We're not here for _them_; we're here for _Harry_. You know, our _friend_."

Angelina hummed her agreement as she squeezed Elizabeth's hand gently. "He hasn't had a lot of cheer lately because of all of his Auror work, so let's give him a nice day without fighting." She paused as she looked around to all of her friends and acquaintances like the stern mother she was. She hated fighting. Sometimes, the best your day could be was that no one argued with you over anything. "We may not get along with the Malfoys, but he does, so they can't be _all_ bad. He has that way of digging under a person to find a good part in them, then befriending them. Let's just make the rule now that if you can't say something without starting a fight then keep your mouth shut."

Fred leered at George. "She getting ready for number two, or what?"

George smirked and murmured lowly, "Damn near turning into Mum."

"It just feels weird in this place… as if it were not quite a home," Luna added airily.

"It smells a bit fishy… like this plan isn't fully baked, or something," Seamus continued suspiciously, his accent getting a bit thicker.

"I still can't believe that Draco Malfoy has heart enough to care about Harry wanting to see his friends, especially enough to drag us all over here on a Sunday," Justin commented, though he seemed resolved to only mention his thoughts.

"Let's just be nice and if Harry wants to say something, he will. Just remember that if Malfoy really was a complete ass, we wouldn't _be_ here, and Harry wouldn't be either," Ellen stated tartly, also not wanting to deal with a bunch of fighting buffoons on a day off. "He would have pawned this job off on somebody else, and you know he has the clout to do it."

"No comments about Lucius either," Hermione snapped suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. She glared in a return warning. "No comments about him just getting out of jail a week ago, or about Azkaban, or anything stupid like that. He's our host, and he can't be all that bad either if he allowed us all to come here. He is the patriarch of the Malfoy family after all, so it was his final word."

Several heads nodded as a sudden pop distracted their attention to a distinguished looking house-elf, who snobbishly held its head high and declared that Harry had just arrived to the patio, and the surprise was waiting.

They all snuck through several halls –led by the elf- toward the door leading outside. Knowing how sensitive Harry's senses were, they tried to be as discrete as possible.

End flashback.

* * *

Harry took a few steps forward and was immediately embraced by Hermione and Ellen.

"Oh! It's so good to see you, Harry!" Ellen exclaimed as she took her son back and kissed Harry's cheek while Hermione kissed the other.

"You too, Ellen, and little Daniel's walking already! Look at that!" Harry laughed as he tickled the kid as more of his friends surrounded him. "Ron, man, what's the matter – can't keep track of a half-year-old?" Harry joked as he clapped the taller redhead on the back in a manly embrace.

"As if Ellen would ever trust me alone with him, mate! What are you, nuts?" Ron elbowed Harry in the ribs before swinging an arm over his shoulders and squeezing.

"Hey, Ron! Quit-"

"-crowding Harry!" Fred and George yelled together as they ruffled Ron's hair and pinched him away from Harry so they could joke around with him too.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Harry asked with a shove at George who was trying to pick on him for being shorter than he was and stand really close to him.

"Uncle Harry!" A voice shouted out as her name was called.

Harry turned to see Angelina pushing through their friends to come up to Harry with Elizabeth in her arms. Harry smiled at the image she made with Elizabeth straddled to her hip, and her belly protruding noticeably the other way. She was just barely big enough for you to tell that she was pregnant again. He smiled brightly at her as she approached.

"Don't you just look beautiful!" Harry exclaimed exaggeratedly looking at Elizabeth, but glancing to Angelina showing that he meant her too. His friends made a large circle as Angelina put Elizabeth down and she spun around in circles to show off her new dress.

"Like it?"

There were a lot of 'ooh's and 'ahh's from the crowd of Gryffindors as they smiled encouragingly at the little redhead.

"I've never seen a more beautiful little lady before," Harry told her squatting down to be her size. She was blushing the shade of her hair and scuffing her shoe adorably at the compliment.

A chorus of 'aww's shot around the group as Harry opened his arms to the child and she shot into his embrace to kiss him on the cheek.

* * *

Lucius tried to keep a full scowl from blooming on his face, but it was difficult with so many people squeezing, and touching, and kissing his mate. He felt Draco's shoe kick him in a warning, but he wasn't about to interrupt his mate. Harry was so happy right now that he could not bring himself to ruin that for him.

"Ever the patient aristocrat," a sneering monotone voice added from behind the blondes. Lucius' gaze shifted to land on Severus.

"Ever the sly Slytherin to sneak up on people whilst their backs are turned," Lucius responded with a smirk. Severus settled beside Draco without being asked to sit.

"How good of you to pop by, Uncle Severus," Draco drawled easily, though his lips were slightly quirked to show his humor and gratitude of the man's presence.

"A shot of green in a sea of red," Severus sneered as he looked over to the horde of Weasleys. "Literally." He snorted at the sight of all of them. He could even see the older Weasleys had managed to pop in as well. "What the hell have I walked in on?" He grunted when he saw the whole lot of them 'ooo'ing at a little brat Weasley he would probably have to deal with in the future.

"How did you know we were having company?" Draco asked curiously, though his face remained blank.

"I didn't," Severus scoffed, looking particularly disgruntled as a girly squeal came from someone in the Gryffindor party. "Just my luck that the day I choose to visit and see how badly things are going, you choose to have two dozen Gryffindors invading your _quiet_ home." The black-haired man looked about ready to leave. "What the bloody hell _is_ going on around here?"

"We are going on holiday tomorrow to the Elvin world, and Harry had remarked an interest in having people over, so we surprised him with a gaggle of people that he hasn't seen in ages apparently," Lucius added with a cool façade as he sipped a glass of wine. Draco nodded then looked aloofly back to said-gaggle.

"Perhaps I should leave you to them then," Severus replied teasingly.

Both blondes looked scandalized at being potentially deserted by a fellow Slytherin.

"Come now, Severus, you've already come all this way," Lucius responded with a warning glare accompanying his tone.

"Quite so, and what would you honestly do with yourself for the rest of the day?" Draco wondered with a deceptively innocent look on his face. "It's not as if you have a life or anything."

Five minutes and already Severus wanted to decapitate his nephew. Maybe he should just curse his mouth shut? At the warning glare from Lucius, Severus could tell that that would not be allowed any time soon.

He called a house-elf and demanded a scotch of any kind… a large amount of it. He would need a few more drinks to make it through this day sane.

* * *

"Good thing Malfoy contacted us on a Sunday, 'cause it's the only day of the week I had off!" Ron declared as the conversation continued on. Agreements were called out around the group who had come to stand/lean against the far corner of the patio near the railing overlooking the gardens below.

"So, Draco contacted you all?" Harry asked quizzically. He couldn't picture Draco knowing which friends to call and how to get in contact with them, especially so quickly. (Especially since not all of them were Gryffindors – like Luna.)

"Well, Draco came by my house." Hermione interjected with a warm smile as she explained, "At first I thought you had dragged him along for another one of your visits again, but when I didn't see you I became suspicious. Apparently, you had 'complained more than one human being could withstand' and he and Lucius had finally agreed to have some of your 'damned Gryffindor friends' over for a few hours if it would only 'placate your whining and complaining for a little while.' " Throughout her narrative there were several snorts of amusement as the other Gryffindors easily deciphered which bits of the monologue were quotes from Draco.

Harry's heart warmed as he remembered the whole scene at breakfast that morning. His blondes had done all of this for him. He glanced behind himself and over to where his blondes were still seated, only now Snape was seated with them. He quirked his brow as his gaze caught that of his old Potions Professor and they both broke the gaze without malice.

"So, what's up with the Malfoys being buddy-buddy with you, Harry?" Fred asked mischievously. The twins winked at Harry suggestively, but Harry was positive they weren't thinking that he was shagging the correct blonde.

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Harry joked and everyone burst into laughter before nudging Harry and egging him on to tell them the truth.

The dark-haired Auror leaned closer to his circle of friends and his face became utterly serious causing everyone around him to become likewise. With a deep breath in and out Harry plaintively turned to his friends after a bit of deep thought and told them, with his voice full of passion and truth, "I'm in love."

* * *

When the Gryffindors suddenly went silent, the Slytherins took notice. Lucius and Draco shared a strained glance as they surmised the reason for the silence and subsequent harsh whispering.

Severus wasn't a fool. He had already spoken to Lucius about these things, and he could only gather that Harry must return his feelings to more of an extent than Severus had thought possible, especially so quickly. Harry was telling his friends what he thought of his lover… this was a crucial moment in the relationship between Harry and Lucius. What he said to his friends… what his friends thought of Lucius… what Harry would do about his friends' reactions… etc.

Severus watched his friend keenly. Lucius' patented Malfoy mask was clearly visible, but underneath that you could see the lines of worry forming and the nervousness in his eyes was slightly visible every now and then.

* * *

There was a long silence after Harry's explanation of his declaration as everyone looked at their friend's steadfast expression. He was positive about how he felt. He had explored all his options. He knew what this path would entail. He wanted his friends to accept his choices.

After a pause of thoughtful pondering, his friends shrugged and smiled at him.

"I don't see what you see in him," Bill told Harry gently as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "He seems like a git and an ass to me, but I know to you he's completely different. As long as he makes you happy, then I don't have a problem with him."

Harry sighed with relief at that and nodded to his taller friend.

"Yeah," Fred agreed with a nod to his twin to show that they both agreed, "you know what you're talking about. You aren't a kid anymore. You don't love easily, Harry; so when you say that you do, then we know that it's serious."

"We don't have to like him to know that he's good for you if he can make you smile like this just talking about him," George continued.

"He's a veela. You're his mate, I guess, so he must treat you well," Ginny put in tentatively with a shrug. Harry nodded in the affirmative. He could understand how the Weasleys would still be cautious and suspicious of the Malfoys because of their longstanding feud and all the negative things that had happened –between Draco and the Weasleys, especially. He didn't expect them to be instant friends. Harry wasn't sure if the Weasleys would ever get along with the Malfoys, but they could be respectful to each other, at least for Harry's sake, if nothing else. "You have the power to throw off the Imperius Curse and you're too powerful to let anyone abuse you, so… we don't have to worry about your safety with him."

"It's destiny," Luna added in her spacey tone and sparkling eyes. "You were meant for each other, obviously."

All the men shrugged oddly, led by Harry, as the girls got far-off dreamy expressions.

"So, I hope you don't stop coming to see us just because you've got yourself a veela?" George exclaimed in outrage and everyone laughed.

"Do you reckon he'll let us have a slumber party once you soften him up a bit?" Ron queried with a grin. He got an elbow and a harsh glare from his wife for his childishness, but everyone else was laughing. "Come on!" Ron begged his wife half-heartedly. "The place is big enough that we could haunt it for weeks and he'd never know about it."

"Well, Harry," Neville started a bit nervously, "you know I don't like Malfoy, er, uh, Draco…." He made a sour expression at having to use the blonde's name, "And I didn't like his father on principle of knowing his reputation…" He seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say, "I can't say that I'll ever like either of them after our school days, and the war and all, but… if you like Malfoy, er, Senior that is –then there must be something to him, so… I'll just trust you like I always do." He shrugged. "You know what you're doing. We all realized that from the war."

"Thanks, Neville." The Auror smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I know you don't like them, and if that's the way it stays, then that's okay. You don't have to like them. I just hope that you guys are respectful to them, as I'll make sure that they are to you all."

There were some murmured agreements on this.

"You know, Harry," Luna began softly, catching everyone's attention, "you've needed a spouse… someone to cherish you, love you, and look after you the way that you do for everyone else. I think that I speak for everyone when I say that I'm happy that you have finally found the other half to your soul, and I hope you have a happy life together."

There were cheers of agreements. It didn't really matter _who_ it was. If Harry had found the one for him, then his friends were happy about that.

Harry appreciated her words and thought vaguely that she would make a good greeting card writer.

"And don't forget to invite us over for parties!" Justin added.

"I'll bring the alcohol!" Seamus cried out and everyone cheered.

Many of his friends agreed and nodded along with the twins, and Hermione and Ron smiled proudly at their friend. They had obviously known and agreed before, but seeing Harry so happy and comfortable in this place, only confirmed what Harry had told them before coupled with now. He was happy with Lucius.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : I've editted this story, mostly for grammar purposes, but as of Chapter 4, the plot has changed slightly. It's not a huge deal and you don't have to reread it if you don't want to, but I've changed the events of Chapter 4 and added a few scenes. However, mostly everything is superficial and you can just read on from there if you want.**

* * *

Chapter 2

The laughing had suddenly continued and no one had yet to come at him with a pitchfork, so the older veela took that as a good sign. Harry was smiling again, and when someone suddenly mentioned Quidditch, the entirety of the men exclaimed a cheer of agreement and everyone suddenly started walking off the patio.

Harry waved off the redheads and approached his blondes where they sat, quickly. The dark-haired wizard plopped down between his two blondes with a huge grin on his face. He leaned over and kissed Draco's cheek before taking Lucius' hand in his own and pulling the blonde closer for a deeper kiss.

A loud clearing of a certain snarky man's throat brought the lovers' attention back to the moment and Harry pulled away from his blonde.

"Thank you both for this," Harry told them sincerely, and got a short nod from each veela in response. "So, Snape, how goes your summer?"

"Peacefully quiet without you around to muck up anything anymore," Snape sneered.

"I can see you haven't been outside much. You know that thing called the sun? People occasionally walk out into it to stave off the nasty yellow, sallow look… it's kind of a hard thing to describe, but if you look in the mirror you'll see what I'm talking about," Harry quipped before he turned back to Lucius. "We're going to grab some brooms and head off to the Quidditch field. Do you want to come and watch?"

Lucius' mask changed into a gentle smile and he nodded briefly before sharpening his face and standing gracefully.

"How presumptuous of you, Potter," Draco drawled while looking his nails over. "Just because we invite enough blasted Gryffindors over for a game doesn't mean that we want them using our brooms."

Harry turned to Draco and elbowed him. "You want to be a Beater for my team?" he asked with a smirk and watched as Draco's eyes gleaned with the prospect of pounding a few Gryffindors without repercussions.

"I'd love to," he responded smoothly. "You'll need some actual talent on your team, after all." He stood as gracefully as a Malfoy should. "Come on, Uncle Severus. Can't play without a referee."

Severus sneered at the idea. "I'll watch, but I will not attempt to enforce rules on a negligent bunch of-"

"Okay," the green-eyed Seeker cut him off suddenly. "How about you both are referees, but you only have to sit and watch? Hmm? We'll ask you when we're in dispute."

"How do you expect two Slytherins to not be biased about who was wrong in a play?" Snape questioned.

Harry responded as he and Draco began to walk toward the broom shed. "Well, I know Lucius will side with me, especially if I get injured in the play. And I know you would never do anything to benefit me or any team that I am on… so, I figure that whenever you two come to a coherent conclusion, it will be a fair judgment."

Snape stood with Lucius and grumbled about Harry's stupid lion logic as they trailed the line of Gryffindors, their wives, and children.

* * *

As the field came into sight, Harry was astonished. It looked fabulous. The grass had been cut, the hoops had been polished, there were now spectator boxes visible in the tree lines, and lines had even been chalked to mark the midpoint and quarters of the field.

Harry was impressed and very pleased that Lucius and Draco had taken everything into account when they had decided to make this Harry's day.

As Ron and Justin dropped the box of game balls off to the side of the field to begin the game, Hermione, Luna, Angelina (who was pregnant and couldn't play), and Ellen took the kids and walked off to the spectators' boxes with Lucius and Severus to observe the game. The boxes weren't quite as high as Hogwarts, but they were sheltered from the weather and they offered a good enough view for this field.

"Ginny and Harry are Captains," Angelina declared loudly as she sat with her child eagerly in her lap, awaiting her Uncle Harry to win, and the group moved away from the two people so they could shake hands and select their teammates.

Harry smirked at the ease with which Angelina delegated things now. It came with having one demanding child for a daughter and another for a husband. He could just imagine her smacking George on the back of the head and telling him that Elizabeth would get the last piece of pie, not him, or something like that.

"Good luck, Harry."

"Right back at you, Ginny. What position are you playing?"

"Seeker," she responded with a smirk. "I've been practicing."

Their gazes were set in challenge for a moment before they both turned to begin picking.

"Age before beauty," Ginny remarked, gesturing for Harry to pick first.

Harry just grinned and picked instead of arguing so he would get his blonde.

"Draco, Beater," he called out. Draco had already begun to approach the brunet before his name had been called. Ginny's brow quirked at the first selection, but she just shrugged.

"Fred, Beater," she called out, and her brother joined her.

"George, same," Harry answered her challenge. Fred and George seemed up to the challenge of going against each other. George clapped Draco on the back roughly in greeting.

"You watch my back and I'll watch yours," he told him leaning into the blonde.

"You had both better be watching my back too," Harry interjected the two easily, and the blonde and redhead seemed to unite in the concept of protecting Harry.

"Bill, Chaser."

"Ron, Keeper."

"Lee, Beater."

"Justin, Chaser."

And so the picking continued until finally it was time to begin the game.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Ron shouted in frustration. "How can that be called a fair tie?"

Harry chuckled deeply as he patted Ginny on the back. "I forgot that that snitch was still out there, Ron. I had played a Seeker game last week, and we never got the snitch out of the field. It was a minor oversight."

"But how could you both catch a different snitch at the same _time_!"

"It's not like we lost, Ron," Harry reminded idly.

"He just doesn't want to have been outdone by his _little_ sister," Ginny challenged with a triumphant smirk. Her team had made one last goal just before Harry and Ginny had each caught a separate snitch.

"You're my _only_ sister," he snapped. "It's not fair though!" Ron whined as his teammates patted him on the back roughly.

"Get over it, mate," Justin commented with a sigh.

"Wuss," Draco sneered at the redhead before stepping in between Ginny and Harry so he could lean closer to the brunet.

Ginny humphed, but backed off and fell into step with Luna, who was now holding baby Daniel, while Ellen consoled her husband.

Beside them strolled George with Angelina on one of his arms and Elizabeth swinging his other arm as they talked about the game.

"What time are we leaving tomorrow?" Draco asked, now that there were no Gryffindors in earshot.

Harry smiled at his companion. He figured Draco really wanted to know how early he was going to drag his ass out of bed, or whether he should just stay awake through the night.

"Probably about two or three in the morning." He checked his Muggle beeper with a squint. "If you start sleeping now you might have enough beauty rest to not be a bitch by then," Harry commented blandly and got punched in the shoulder for his airy comment.

"Shut up!" Draco snapped, though his lips were quirked with good-natured fun. They fell back to silence for a moment, until Harry gently nudged Draco.

"It was nice playing on the same team as you for a change," he admitted truthfully. "It makes playing very smooth and effortless. You were fantastic. Probably the best beater I've had guarding me in a long time."

"Yeah, well, I can't say the same about my seeker." Draco glared sidelong at Harry, though there was no malice in his gaze. "You could have ended that game an hour before it actually ended."

"Where would the fun be in that?" he questioned with a grin. "I haven't had this much fun with Quidditch in ages. It's the kind of thing I wanted to draw out, besides…" Harry's eyes sparked with mischief as Draco turned to him curiously at his motives, "… if we kick their asses this time, who would want to play with us again?"

Draco's face turned evil at the pure Slytherin side Harry was displaying. "Father would be proud of your logic, my friend."

"Speaking of…" Harry glanced around the bodies of some of his friends to the two older men walking at the front of the group quite a distance off. "I'll get back to you later." He increased his gait to catch up with Lucius and Severus.

"Hey, Harry!" Lee Jordan called out as Harry came into view beside him. "So, how's your motorcycle riding?"

Harry barked a laugh and gave Lee a high-five. "Silent as the wind in cloaking mode. You're a genius with her. I think she might need a tune-up soon, though. I'll bring her by for a check-up next month before I leave." Lee nodded his head as he pondered what his fellow bike-lover was saying. "I wouldn't want her to sit in bad shape for as long as I'll be gone."

Lee shrugged. "I don't know where you're going, but you're right, if you're going to be away for another few months or a year, then you should bring her by for maintenance and winterizing before you let her sit that long. The middle of October is fine with me. I'll clear a few days for you to come by."

The Auror nodded his thanks.

"Harry, where are you going this time?" Ellen whined.

"Don't go away, Uncle Harry! We never see you no more." Elizabeth objected instantly.

"_Any_more," Angelina corrected gently.

"Auror duties," Harry explained cheerfully to the child. "I think they're sending me to the Americas for a while. I don't know the details until the week before. I just know I'll be gone for a year."

Several groans and complaints were immediately shot out, but everyone understood how dedicated Harry was to protecting people and doing his job well.

Harry jogged ahead of his friends until he came up to the veela and Potions Master.

"How'd you like the game, Gentlemen?" Harry asked from the other side of Lucius.

Severus sneered. "Incompetent buffoon. You had your eye on at least one of those snitches throughout the entire game."

Harry shrugged nonchalantly, but Lucius could see his angle behind the idea of tying the game.

"You can't keep people wanting to play a game with you if you beat them every time without effort, Severus," Lucius voiced coolly. "Especially prideful Gryffindors."

"Nicely put, love," Harry commented dryly of his mate.

"You're too Slytherin to be Gryffindor, love," Lucius placated.

Harry reached over as they were walking and entwined his fingers with the veela's casually.

"Was it terribly boring to watch?"

"Not at all," Lucius responded smoothly. "It's never boring to watch you on a broom, my mate."

"Please stop," Severus demanded with a slight groan to his voice.

"Besides, I formally met several of your friends Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Angelina Weasley, and Ellen Weasley, along with her child Daniel and the Elizabeth child," Lucius added, hoping Severus was only teasing about them being mushy with each other.

"What did you think of them?" Harry queried with a quirked brow. "Were they kind to you… or should I say, were you kind to them?"

Lucius put on a fake-hurt expression of awe and Harry snickered at the sight. "I have no idea what you could possibly mean. I am the perfect gentlemen."

"Right, Lucius, and I'm Father Time. You know you come off as aloof and unapproachable, and I just-"

"I know, love." Lucius nodded once. "I was polite to them as they made small-talk, but I could clearly tell that Ms. Hermione was quite the pleasant, intelligent young woman."

"She asked you to call her by her first name already?"

"Yes, she told me that she asked Draco to do the same. Is it odd for her to do that?"

"Well, she only asked Draco to do that on merit. She considers me a pretty tough judge of character, so if I brought him over, then he was okay in her books." Harry shrugged. "I wasn't sure how she would respond to you or vice versa."

"We had a rather thorough discussion about house-elves after we got over the formalities and…"

Harry burst out into huge deep belly-laughs that made him have to stop for a moment before he kept walking. The dark-haired Auror turned to look back at his curious friends before he said. "Hermione talked to Lucius about S.P.E.W." The whole of the rest of his friends broke out into peals of laughter and Hermione colored a deep shade of crimson from all of it.

"I take it this is common? She was quite passionate about it."

"Hermione started that whole thing in school," Harry explained with euphoric thoughts racing through his head. "She had badges, and kept knitting hats and leaving them for the house-elves so they could be liberated. It was all a rather humorous, but annoying few years. If you ever wanted to distract her, all you had to do was bring up that or some other cause. I really think she could make a great politician or something, but she hates the Ministry, and I wouldn't want her to ruin her personality in that place." His voice became somber as he considered how much he, himself, had changed since his employment there.

"If everyone hates the Ministry, but no one does anything about it, how can it change for the better?" Lucius asked his mate wisely.

"Some people have to suffer through the bullshit to get through to make a difference," Severus continued with his friend and Lucius nodded appreciatively.

"You're both right, of course," Harry told them easily.

The blonde was happy to see that Severus wasn't going to rub that in his mate's face, and he smiled slightly at that.

"What am I allowed to call you now?" Harry asked as he leaned forward slightly to see around Lucius to the snarky Potions Master.

The black-haired professor hummed in thought before shooting a warning glare to the youth on Lucius' left.

* * *

Severus was surprised at how mature the boy had grown in the time that he had been out of school, and even throughout his final year at Hogwarts.

If Severus was going to get along with Harry –not just as Lucius' mate, but also as the mature man that he was- then he was going to need to give in a little as well.

"You may call me Severus if it pleases you to do so."

"And you may call me Harry." He returned in kind, with a slight nod of his head in acknowledgment to the respect Severus had just shown him. When had this little brat turned into a Lord of the Potter estate and a man instead of a boy?

"So, what have you got planned next?" the green-eyed man asked his lover with a glint in his eyes.

"Planned?" Lucius responded in jest. "Who said I planned for any of this to happen?"

Harry's other hand came up to stroke Lucius' arm from his wrist to the belly of his elbow and back again. He smiled knowingly at the veela. "This day has been so special. Thanks for everything you had to do and put up with, just for me."

"This was partially for him, too, you realize," Severus intervened. "Now he doesn't have to listen to you blubber about your friends for at least another month."

Lucius shot a glare of outrage at his so-called friend, but Severus' gaze was on his godson.

"I think I'll go save Draco from those blithering Gryffindors before he damages any more brain tissue."

Harry snorted as Severus dropped behind to do as he stated. Lucius turned to smile at his mate and couldn't help but feel proud of how well he did today. He had done everything perfectly, and now his mate was more than pleased with him.

"So, what's next?"

"How should I know?" the veela wondered innocently.

"Oh, I don't know. The overly well-maintained gardens, the lunch on the patio, the suddenly immaculate Quidditch field, and the lack of surprise on your part from having roughly a dozen and a half Gryffindors suddenly invading your Manor…" He paused with a raised brow. "… Stop me when I'm getting _warm_."

Lucius chuckled and squeezed his mate's hand briefly. "I was thinking about lunch, or at least a snack on the veranda."

"Sounds perfect." The Auror leaned his head against Lucius' shoulder briefly, wanting to show Lucius how much he appreciated what the blonde was doing by opening his home for the day to some bloody brats just to satisfy his mate.

Lucius understood every word of his mate's silent thank you.

* * *

As they ate lunch on the 'veranda' as Lucius called it, at the suddenly oblong and huge patio furniture, Harry couldn't help but admire the beauty in his veela.

Lucius was so open and loving around himself and Draco, but this was the first time that Harry had gotten to really see Lucius interact with other people. (The incident with Daeron didn't count really because, apparently, Lucius is completely different when family is involved.)

It was remarkable to see how calmly and coolly he handled the tentative questions some of his braver older friends shot toward Lucius in an attempt to be friendly and pull Lucius into their circle slowly. If he was going to be with Harry, then they couldn't really just ignore him forever.

His responses were sharp and well thought out, even though he took very little time in considering what to say. He was never rude, but not overly polite which would exude that he was being fake in order to please his lover. The veela really meant everything that he said, and he said nothing sweetly so as not to seem like he was merely trying to appease the horde of Weasleys asking him questions.

Harry was pulled from his musings when Bill mentioned something about his brother.

"So, how _is_ Charlie doing? The last I heard from Ron he was recovering from a few bruised ribs?" His face was slightly scrunched in query of his own words. He wasn't sure if he had his information correct.

"Yeah." Bill nodded a few times. "It was a baby dragon he was trying to handle and the little squirt spun and knocked him aside with its tail. Guess it thought it was playing with him or something." Bill shrugged. "I would, personally, never attempt to 'play' with something six feet shorter than I am by smacking it into a wall."

"How old was the dragon?" Harry asked, leaning forward to rest his elbow on the table. Draco and Severus scowled and sneered at him respectively as he pointedly ignored their outrage at his manners.

"About seven months or so… still just a pup according to Charlie." Bill rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

"Well, I'm thrilled that _you_ could make it. If I had been expecting a bunch of friends to drop in on short notice, I never would have thought that you would have even been in the country to make it." Harry grinned happily at his least-seen friend. Aside from Charlie –who he got to visit more frequently than Bill because he was near Romania more often than Egypt- Bill was the one friend he saw less frequently than the rest. He was lucky if he saw the man once a year for Christmas.

"Yeah." Bill laughed. "It was a complete fluke that we both happened to be on vacation at the same time, but I actually have to go back tomorrow, so I'll be leaving here soon anyway."

Harry was sad to hear that, but also happy that he got to see Bill and play a bit of Quidditch with him.

"Harry, you should see what we found in Diagon Alley yesterday!" Ellen cried out as she looked around for her huge purse under her chair somewhere.

"That's right," Harry murmured to himself, "you three went to Diagon Alley yesterday. Did you find everything you were looking for?"

After Ellen had found her purse and started to dig through it, she alternated in speaking with Hermione and Angelina.

"Oh, Harry, you'll never believe it! There's a new Apothecary in Diagon Alley, and they have such a wonderful selection of Potions Books." Harry smirked at Hermione's excited presence when she mentioned books. "We found a potion for…" She leaned forward, using her hand to shield her voice from reaching Daniel or Elizabeth. "… for settling kids to sleep."

"It's better than warm milk, or even Dreamless Sleep because it's not addictive and it's perfectly safe to use repeatedly, or as needed," Angelina added her input as she surreptitiously glanced at her child.

"I haven't slept so well in-" Ellen blushed deeply. "I mean, _Daniel_ hasn't slept so well in ages."

A ring of laughter echoed around the table and even the Slytherins couldn't help but crack the barest of quirks to their lips.

"One batch goes a long way," Angelina continued, leaning closer to her friend Ellen.

"We both pitched in to buy the ingredients because some of them are expensive, you know," Ellen added, and leaned forward to Harry a bit expectantly. "And, well, you see, the most expensive was the veela hair of course."

This statement got a quirked brow from the Slytherins, but a nod and gentle smile from Harry, who knew how especially Ellen suffered from sleepless nights because of Daniel's crying sometimes. He knew that Ron made enough for them, but he also knew that Ellen couldn't afford to keep buying special potion ingredients. It was a luxury that they couldn't afford with a new child.

Ellen looked shyly toward Lucius and Draco for a moment with full pleading-mother eyes. "I didn't come here expecting to find two veelas, of course," she told them sternly.

Ron nodded as well, though he seemed uncomfortable with what he thought his wife was about to do. "I kept it between us, Harry."

Harry leaned back in his chair, knowing that his best friend was telling the truth.

"But, I am curious if it would be alright to have a strand of your hair for the potion. I don't know if you've ever had to deal with sleepless nights because of a wailing child, Mr. Malfoy…" Ellen began with a glance to Draco briefly, "…but after roughly six straight months of no sleep, I am grateful for the relief."

* * *

Lucius didn't know how to respond to that. He wanted to tell the little woman off. Draco had been easy to please as a child. All his veela genes wanted was to be close to his veela father, so sleeping with the child kept him from crying all night.

It was completely rude and uncivilized to ask anyone for a bit of their hair for a potion, no matter who they were. It was the kind of thing that could be offered, but not asked for and Lucius was ready to tell her off. The only thing holding him back was his mate who was looking curiously at him to see how he would handle the request.

Suddenly, Draco snapped a reply for himself, "Though your cry for help is endearing, I will not pluck hairs from my head for your potion. It is extremely rude to be invited into another's home, and then to ask them such a thing."

Ellen seemed half cowed and half taken aback. She knew that they didn't quite know each other well yet, but she had thought that they couldn't be so bad if Harry liked them.

"It's not like your hair would do any good anyway, Mr. Malfoy," Snape commented carelessly speaking to Draco. "The potion calls for a full-veela's hair, about four inches per batch of potion if I remember correctly."

"That changes nothing," Draco retorted nastily toward the rude woman.

"What do I get in return?" Lucius questioned finally, overlapping his son's scathing reply.

Harry looked to Lucius with vague surprise on his face, but mostly pride that his mate was handling this so much better than Draco.

"As my son mentioned, it is quite rude to… solicit (He fought with himself not to say 'beg', but he knew that his mate was keenly watching him and he didn't want to let him down.) someone in their home, but…" The patented Malfoy smirk came into play next, causing everyone present without any Slytherin in them to think twice about what was about to be said. "… I am willing to make a bargain with you for the sake of our continued alliance through my mate." His eyes narrowed curiously on the Weasley wife.

She looked taken aback, but slightly happy at the prospect of future peaceful nights of sleep. What could she possibly give a Malfoy that he wouldn't already have, though? She began to think deeply. Her eyes wandered as she continued to worry over what she could bargain with. When her eyes landed on Harry a light went off in her head. Maybe the correct question she should ask herself was what could she offer Lucius that had to do with Harry? She had known Harry much longer than him.

Her grin turned devious and she scooted forward on her chair in an eager confidence. This caused everyone to become quite curious and lean closer as well. The entire table was silent, even Daniel's babbles and baby-talk were silent (his hand half inside his mouth as he watched his mother).

"I have something that might interest you, Mr. Malfoy," she began, a smirk overcoming her face. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a picture of your…" She looked at Harry for a delayed period of time.

"Mate," Harry supplied to her, a bit wary of what picture she had of him as his mind raced with possibilities.

"…mate," she finished, looking back to Lucius. It felt a bit odd using that word. It was like when teenagers start being able to say 'sex' and 'fuck' casually in conversation without embarrassment. The term 'mate' was a very powerful one though, and she would not use it lightly, as most wizards wouldn't.

"That would depend on the photograph and its quality," Lucius answered coolly, though inside he was bursting with curiosity. What image did she have of his mate? Was it a nude image? Was he kissing someone else? Was it blackmail? Was it pointless? Was she fooling him? What could it be?

Ellen turned and looked slightly apologetic toward Harry as she began to dig through her purse again, looking for the worn picture she had been holding onto for a while. As she searched, she explained the picture and its background.

"Well, you see, Harry and Draco had this truce going on sometime at the end of sixth year, or beginning of seventh, or something. Anyway, during the time of the war, Harry was always busy either studying, or practicing defense, but you could usually find him in the library if you needed him. This one time, it was really late in the day, and I had gone to find this book on nymphs and wood elves for an essay I had to write, and when I turned the corner in the library I found…" She smirked instead of continuing. "Now, here's where we trade. A picture of Harry and your son for a strand of your hair."

Lucius scowled. The only thing he had to go on was that the picture contained his son and Harry. She could be putting him on. No businessman would take that chance. He was about to turn her down when he really looked at the woman before him. She may seem cunning at the moment, but the picture obviously meant something to her. She was nervous, biting her lip slightly and rubbing at the picture in her hand. One side of the back could clearly be seen from where it peaked over the top of the bag. Harry seemed to trust her and he was just as genuinely curious as everyone else, so whether the picture was just of Harry and Draco studying, or something else, he would trade for it.

"Why do you only demand one strand for it?" Lucius asked suspiciously, raising his chin slightly in defiance.

She dipped her head down slightly. "It's only a Muggle photograph. I had a disposable camera with me that day. It's not electric, so it's the only kind that works in Hogwarts, and I didn't have the money for a Wizarding Camera. I wanted to remember my last year, so I carried it around with me everywhere I went. I just happened to catch this moment, so… it doesn't move, that's why I only asked for one strand… besides, your hair is long, and one strand will do just fine." She finished once she realized she was rambling.

Lucius nodded his head. "You have yourself a bargain." She beamed at him, and Harry snaked his hand into his mate's for his kindness.

Ellen eagerly handed the picture over to Lucius after one last look, and the blonde took the photograph carefully.

Lucius had to quickly school his face from showing all of the emotions he was feeling at seeing the picture. He leaned back in his chair and held the photo so his mate could look at it as well.

It was clearly the scene that Ellen had described. She had just turned the corner and at a working desk a slew of books were strewn everywhere for researching purposes probably. What made Lucius immediately cherish the image was how Draco and Harry were arranged. On one side of the table was Draco, and opposite of him was Harry. Both men were fast asleep –both clearly exhausted. One of Draco's elbows made a pillow for his head while the other arm was stretched out with a quill poised sloppily over a piece of parchment. Harry's head rested on a rather thick tome, his mouth slightly open for breathing. There was no one else around them, and they both just seemed so content to continue sleeping there.

Harry hummed quietly against him. He obviously remembered the day, however vaguely. "We were researching a charm and curse combination that could incapacitate for hours without killing someone, but also not allowing them to awaken of their own will."

Hearing this, Draco leaned over his father to see the picture.

Draco snorted. "Honestly, Father. You've seen us both sleep before."

"Come on, Draco," Harry egged. "Don't we look cute together? A picture of you not scowling and me drooling on a book –who wouldn't love that?"

The younger blonde had the insane urge to stick his tongue out at Harry, but he refrained with some difficulty.

After some more scrutiny, Lucius pocketed the photo into the inner breast-pocket of his waist-coat. The veela never thought he would get something so wonderful as a trade for a strand of his hair, and he thought that it was well worth it. Because she had overly provided in what he considered his hair was worth though, he decided that he would give her more than one strand. Perhaps this would encourage the sharing of more photos of his mate.

The veela ran a hand roughly through his hair, but no strands came out. He sighed as he tried again with both hands, but nothing. He really didn't want to _pull_ out his hair.

"Allow me." Harry stood and swiftly grabbed the back of Lucius' neck. Before the blonde could protest, he yanked him into a fierce kiss. It took seconds for the veela to respond to the fierce and possessive kiss –forgetting their guests and everyone around him. All that mattered was the deep and claiming kiss his mate was pulling from him.

Lucius reached his hand up, running his hand up Harry's arm and over his shoulder to pull the man closer to his body. Harry leaned one knee onto Lucius' chair beside the blonde's legs as he craned Lucius' neck back to get better access to his mouth.

With both hands Harry reached into Lucius' hair, his weak point. A mewling came from Lucius as he felt those fingers running through his locks before a possessive hand fisted in his hair, pulling the veela's head to the side so Harry could kiss his neck. After a few gentle kisses to the veela's neck and a quick peck to his lips, Harry released his hold on the aristocrat.

The nirvana Lucius was experiencing carried on for a few more moments as he slowly regained himself… sitting up straight, wiping the corner of his flushed mouth, running a hand over his hair to smooth it down, and returning the mask to his face to hide his desire for his mate.

Harry returned to his seat with a self-satisfied smile as he looked around cockily to the reactions of his friends. Most of them were amused, or turned on by the display of power.

"So, how many hairs was the bargain for?" Harry asked as he opened his fist. There were three or four golden strands of hair gleaming in his hand from the blonde beside him.

Lucius turned uncaringly to look at his mate's hand. "Give her all of them."

Ellen's face broke into a huge grin of white teeth. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy."

Harry smiled briefly at his mate before standing and leaning over the table to hand Ellen the hairs. She took them all from Harry's hand, then carefully curled the golden strands up in a coil so they wouldn't get lost before she dug in her bag for something to put them in.

"Thanks, Harry," she added to her friend with a smirk.

"Yeah," Angelina continued with sarcasm, "cause we can see how _painful_ that was for you. You just get all the _hard_ jobs, don't you?"

There were snickers around the table from the whole thing.

Harry breathed in deeply and sighed with a grin and a fake-impression of a self-satisfied fat person coming on. "Yup," he exhaled deeply, "it's all in a days work."

* * *

As the meal progressed, Harry could tell that his friends felt uncomfortable. It was a very uncomfortable situation to be in, where you had to eat lunch with people that you hadn't liked your entire life.

Harry supposed he could understand this much from his first few visits with Draco before they had begun to get along. It started out that they didn't speak to each other, then they fought repeatedly. After the fighting abated, they merely shot sarcastic and cynical comments at each other, and after that finally wore down, they began to see each other's personalities and humor. That was when they finally became comfortable around each other.

"How's the B&B going?" Harry asked his friends after a period of silence around the table.

Hermione's eyes lit up at the topic. "Oh! The season is just starting to pick up, actually. Lots of very unique people from so far away. Now that the summer is ending, though, the guests will really start pouring in." She sighed and shrugged happily.

Ellen smiled at her partner. "Yeah. I'm not around to be much of a help." She gave a regretful smile to Hermione who waved the apology off. "I do most of the paperwork though because Hermione just seems to enjoy the annoying guests more."

This caused a laugh around the table. Harry was happy to hear Ellen elaborating on what she and Hermione did for the Malfoys' benefits.

"Why is it called a B and B?" Lucius asked as he wiped his mouth with his napkin after a sip of wine.

"It's a _Bed_ and _Breakfast_ that Hermione and I are partners in. If you've visited Hermione, then you know what the place looks like. Hermione lives there full time, and we run the times for boarding in the Winter months when work is slow and people want to get away for the Christmas time, or whatever. In the off seasons our friends visit to fill the empty rooms." The unsaid comment of 'To keep Hermione company' was translated in a meaningful look that Ellen gave the Slytherins when Hermione wasn't looking. Hermione was usually so absorbed into her reading and managing the house that she didn't get out much.

"Uncle Harry!" Elizabeth whined loudly, calling the attention of the table to her.

The green-eyed uncle turned his concentration to his pouting niece. "Yes, Elizabeth?"

"Story?" She sat up as straight as she could in her mother's lap, clasped her hands together on her knees, opened her huge eyes a bit wider –for pleading purposes- and dipped her head to show off her pout dramatically.

Harry had to admire her tact. He wondered briefly where she had learned this until he saw Uncle Fred giving her a nod of approval subtly. The Auror was not so affected by said-tact though. A little two-year-old could not undue him… but the supplicating faces of said-child's parents, and the desperate crowd of friends who needed a distraction could.

He sighed heavily and stood with a nod to Lucius.

"Story Time then. Where should we go for this?" He posed the question to his blondes. Draco sneered at the mere idea and gave Harry his own pleading stare to get rid of his friends.

Harry smiled evilly back at him for a moment before looking kindly at his mate. If Lucius felt the same, then Harry _would_ get rid of his friends for today.

The older blonde, however, was looking very amused and intrigued at the idea of Story Time, so he rose gracefully from his chair and gestured toward the Conservatory door. "Shall we adjourn to the Parlor for tea, dessert, and… Story Time?"

George and Angelina were standing in a flash. "Yes, let's!"

"Lead the way, my good man!" George added a bit jokingly, as he strode over to his wife's side.

The rest of the Gryffindors laughed and stood as well. You could see the tension was still there, but they seemed to feel better about the transition of scenery.

Lucius offered his arm to Harry as he moved to lead the way. His mate entwined arms with him, and they led the way together into the Conservatory and through the Manor to the Parlor, which was the only room big enough for everyone to have a seat, while still being a comfy room to have an after-party in.

Harry found his favorite chair in the room, beside the fire while Lucius snapped his fingers and ordered tea and dessert from a house-elf.

With a wave of his hand the fire roared to life in the room, and Harry made himself comfortable, as his friends found seats. There were enough chairs and couches for everyone to sit comfortably and still have a good view of Harry once a few chairs were turned.

Elizabeth stepped away from her parents and rushed up to Harry. He easily leaned over and lifted her up onto his knee, where she always sat when he told stories.

"Alright. Now that we're all settled…" Harry began as he looked at all of his friends, then the child on his knee. "What story would you like to hear today?"

She pondered this for a moment then seemed to come to a decision, "A new story!"

Several of the Gryffindors laughed.

"Better watch it, George. She's demanding like a Slytherin," Ron commented with a punch to his brother's arm.

"Arrogant like a Gryffindor," Snape added sharply in defense of his House.

"Spoiled like a Slytherin," Seamus shot back with a glare.

"She's Harry's goddaughter," Draco proclaimed, louder than the rest with a drawl. "What do you all expect?"

This left the rest of the room without anything else to say, so all eyes returned to a proud looking Harry who was showing his gratitude to Draco with a small nod.

Draco glared back by way of saying, 'Hurry up with this stupid story.'

Harry smiled, then turned his gaze back to Elizabeth. "Okay, what should it be about? What creature do you want the story to be about?"

The little redhead remained oblivious that the other adults had been talking about her, and she immediately began thinking deeply about this. Tea and desserts were passed out as she considered her story theme.

"Veelas!" she exclaimed with a smile, looking expectantly at her godfather.

Harry smiled knowingly at her. What could he say about veelas though? He could tell a very elaborate version of how he met Lucius, or an elaborate version of what they were going to connive… _assist_ Draco with. Harry figured that Draco was too intelligent not to catch onto the latter sooner or later, though, so he decided on his own story. He leaned back as he began to form fantastical ideas for his little goddaughter.

"There once was a young prince. He wasn't too tall. He wasn't too small." Harry smiled. "He was _just _right."

Elizabeth giggled, as did several of the Gryffindors.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, it wasn't just Daniel and Elizabeth enthralled in the story, the rest of the adults sat leaning forward in their seats, mesmerized by Harry's lulling voice.

"The world came down to this moment. The prince had spent his entire life searching for this. The moment the prince found his eyes locked on the veela's, he knew…" Harry paused as he now found his own mate's eyes staring into his.

"Knew what, Uncle Harry?" Elizabeth asked.

The storyteller smiled as he looked back to the young girl in his lap. "He knew that he had found the other half of his soul. His soul mate." He gave a gentle squeeze to her hand. "The prince knew that he could die at that moment, and know that he had found what was meant for him in life. He didn't want to die though; he wanted to know this veela who had suddenly taken his heart by its strings. It was then that the evil man moved from behind them, intent on-"

"What's 'intend'?" Elizabeth asked, causing everyone in the room to suddenly remember where they were and breathe a bit more normally. Not many of them had been at the final battle like Harry had been, and even fewer knew what had gone on. It was a bit difficult to decipher what was made-up and what was the truth though, and the entire tale had everyone enraptured –including a certain young blonde who had pouted through half the tale.

"Intent," Harry corrected calmly. "It means somebody was determined to do something. It's what you plan on doing, like, my _intent_ is to finish this story for you. That's what I _want_ to do."

"Okay! Finish!" she agreed smiling and leaning against his chest with her hand holding his shirt tightly as she looked up to him with huge curious eyes.

"Hold on a moment, Harry. I didn't want to interrupt…" Ellen began with a grimace as she stood with the fidgeting Daniel in her arms, "…but…"

"It's alright," Harry told her with a smile.

Ellen smiled back at him then turned to Draco, who was closest to her. "Could you tell me where the restroom is?"

Draco's bored face instantly turned into a sneer, then a face of confusion.

"Rest Room?" he demanded sharply. It made him scowl just to think that Mudbloods had a special room in their houses just for _resting_. He had an entire Manor, but no 'Rest Room'. "What do you need a 'Rest Room' for? Can you not rest in any room?"

_It must be a Muggle thing,_ Draco thought to himself.

Ellen acquired a rather confounded expression, before she broke out into peals of laughter. Several others began snickering as well, though they tried to hide it from the sensitive Slytherins, who were all either scowling or looking indignant.

"No!" Ellen exclaimed, holding her son with one arm and her stomach with the other as she tried to breathe properly. "A restroom is a room for the toilet. You know? A water closet? The loo; the john; a privy; a lavatory; a bathroom; a -"

Draco's seething glare, hiding his embarrassment, cut her off as she continued laughing. He snapped his fingers and a house-elf appeared. "Take Mrs. Weasley to the bathroom on the first floor," he ordered sharply, and watched as the mother and child left the room with only cackles of laughter being heard behind them.

As Draco returned his glare to the rest of the room, he found several bemused stares. Before he could rip off their heads, Elizabeth asked:

"Then what happened?" still looking impatiently at Harry.

"Uh… oh, right! The evil man had moved in on the two soul mates that had just discovered each other. The evil man hated true love and would try anything to kill the prince because he wanted to rule the world. The prince still hadn't noticed this evil quite yet, but the veela standing in front of him had. His eyes widened with fear as he saw the evil man raise his sword to attack. The veela would have gladly given his own life to save his mate's. He charged the evil man and with all of his strength pushed the evil over the cliff and into the endless fall below. The evil could never return from such a fall. The veela had to make sure that his mate was alright, though. He turned toward the prince and put out his hand to him. The veela told the prince that he was royalty where he came from and that he wanted the prince to return to his kingdom and rule beside him for the rest of their lives. He asked if the prince would go with him."

"What'd the prince say?"

"Yes," Harry told her firmly and Elizabeth cried out with joy, jumping off Harry's lap.

"_Such_ a good story, Uncle Harry! Much better than the unicorn one! Did they have any kids? What about pets? What did the veela people think of the prince?" she demanded as she stood toe to toe with her godfather.

"That, my dear, is a story for another time," he told her tiredly. He picked her off her feet and everyone in the room seemed to come alive.

"Time to go home, Elizabeth," Angelina declared as she reached out for her child.

"Great story, Harry," George added, clapping his friend on the back.

"Geez! Look at the time! I should have been home ages ago," Bill exclaimed, walking up to Harry too. "You had me dangling on your every word."

"Oh, goodness, we've taken up your entire day!" Ellen mumbled worriedly as she approached Harry with Daniel's head on her shoulder, back from the bathroom and fast asleep.

"What a great surprise! It was lovely having you here. Thank you all for coming."

Lucius led the way from the parlor to the entrance of the Manor and opened it as the gaggle of Harry's friends began shuffling around Harry, saying good-byes, getting hugs, and making their way slowly to the door.

Several of those who had already hugged Harry were either shaking Lucius' hand or thanking him and Draco for having them. At one point Elizabeth hugged Lucius' leg and exclaimed, "Bye Uncle Luscious!"

This caused a blush and scowl from the blonde. The girl was already skipping out the door though. He was just glad that no one had really noticed the girl make her good-bye.

After the last person was out the door, Harry stepped outside and began waving to them and calling out good-byes. Lucius and Draco glanced at each other. The usual purpose of a door was to be able to close it after company left. Well, Harry could wave… they wouldn't wave.

Severus sidled up to Lucius and elbowed him slightly. "Yes, Uncle Luscious…" he began, seeing the older blonde stiffen immediately. "Do I get a hug too?"

"Bugger off," the aristocrat hissed back at his friend. "Don't you have a potion to get back to?"

Severus tried valiantly, but couldn't wipe the self-satisfied smirk off his face. "I suppose I'll see you both after you return from your little adventure. Do bring back souvenirs," he added snidely as he walked past Draco with a small smile and squeeze of his shoulder. "Happy travels," he remarked sarcastically just as he walked into the Study and used the Floo to get back to his own home.

Harry walked back in the Manor then, and shut the door behind him. "Oh, is Severus gone as well?"

"Thankfully," Lucius answered before traipsing off to the Parlor to make sure things were taken care of by the house-elves before he relaxed with his family.

Harry smiled as he watched Lucius go. He sidestepped closer to Draco and they shared a glance before Harry nudged Draco with his shoulder.

"I don't suppose you heard Elizabeth too, hmm?"

They shared a grin.

"I nearly couldn't hold in my laughter, but I am a Malfoy after all."

"Of course." Harry nodded solemnly before they both broke out into laughter and started back toward the veranda to catch the last rays of daylight and eat a light snack, perhaps.

* * *

"So, I have a vague perception of how we get to the Elvin Realm, but you said it was in another dimension, and there was a key to the door…?" the younger blonde queried.

Harry verified the question with a nod.

"So, who has the key that will let us in?"

Lucius had just approached both men on the veranda as Draco asked this question. The older blonde subtly looked worriedly to his mate for a quick response to that, but Harry was coolly looking to Draco with a small nod of greeting to Lucius.

"I contacted a good friend of mine of high stature in the Elvin Realm and explained about our visit. He wrote back saying that he would have two guards open the gate when we 'knock' and they would escort us to the Elvin Kingdom. He has offered accommodations for us all at the castle for the duration of our stay."

"Did you accept?" Draco demanded a bit snippily.

"Of course!" Harry laughed. "Nothing but the best for my blondes!"

This declaration caused a similar softening of the eyes on both blondes as they looked at Harry somewhat adoringly for a moment. Draco quickly regained his loftier-than-thou stare:

"We'll just see how good their definition of the best is," he drawled.

"You mentioned a knock," Lucius added suddenly, poised elegantly in the chair, leaning his chin on his thumb and his first finger touching his lip in thought. Harry thought his lover looked absolutely stunning with his hair now hanging loose and falling over one of his shoulders to compliment his pensive stare.

"Yes, to get into the Elvin Realm, I have to 'knock' on the door, so to speak." Both blondes identically cocked their right eyebrows at him causing Harry to snicker before responding to the query. "It's not a conventional knock, because they don't hear any kind of noise on their side of the door. It's a magic knock. My magic was keyed into the doors to the Elvin Realm so that if I were ever in need of a safe haven, all I had to do was knock and if it were life and death the door would open by itself. Because we are just traveling for a visit, there has to be someone on the other side of the door to open it for us. When I knock, those within a certain distance of the door will be able to feel my knock and open it. Without a key, the door only opens freely from their side. The area is also warded with Elvin Magic so that children cannot get in and accidentally happen upon this world."

"Interesting." Draco mused in his thoughts. He seemed intrigued by the magic at work behind the other dimension and their gates. "What will we do when we get there?"

"Whatever you want, I imagine," Harry answered with a smile. "It's not up to me what you do. Have fun. There are different sports there, different magic… an entire race and history to learn and explore. I'm sure my friend Daeron wouldn't mind giving us a few fun hints of what we could do. He might even show us around."

Draco shrugged noncommittally. "I'd rather it just be us." He voiced, not liking the idea of some foreigner mooching his private time with his father and Harry away from him.

The younger blonde yawned suddenly and stretched his arms out. "I think I need a nap before we leave. We have several hours before we leave, right?"

"Yes. I won't wake you until three in the morning or so," Harry informed with a sly evil smirk.

"Potter, if you so much as jump on my bed, I'll have you cursed to the ceiling so fast you won't know what hit you!" the blonde hissed nastily. He hated being awoken from a deep sleep.

"I swear, on my honor, that I won't jump on your bed, or anything of the like to get you awake. Nothing loud either. Promise."

Draco's grumpy suspicion seemed somewhat quelled. He gave a nod to his company before exiting and heading back to his room.

Harry and Lucius sat in comfortable silence for a long time, until Lucius finally took his eyes off of Harry and murmured.

"It's about to start raining."

"How can you tell?" Harry queried as he looked up at the sky.

"I can feel it."

The younger man looked at his mate with intrigue. "I've never read about that before."

"There are a lot of random pointless things that creatures such as veelas can do that never get documented. I can't predict rain, but I can feel it, so it's rather a mediocre talent."

Harry leaned in slowly and chastely kissed his lover's lips. "Nothing about you is mediocre, nor do I think your talents are pointless. Everything about you captivates me," he murmured before he suddenly began to feel rain drops. "Oh, there's that rain then. We should head in." He and Lucius stood silently and wordlessly they began heading back to their room, seeing sense in Draco's idea of a nap, but not needing to even comment on it to each other. They both had the same idea and they knew it.

Harry pulled Lucius toward him gently, and they embraced near the entrance to their bedroom.

"Thank you for everything you did for me today, Lucius. The game was fun and seeing my friends again was fabulous. I'm so happy that you and Draco got along well with them, even though most of them are just stupid Gryffindors."

Lucius grinned and held his mate to him tighter. "Anything for you, love." He stared longingly into those green eyes for a suspended time before he spoke again. "We should rest." He took his mate's hand as he released him and they both walked slowly to the bedroom to change.

"Oh! We haven't even packed yet!"

"Damn it." Lucius groaned before yawning deeply. "We should pack first, then. There should be a bottomless bag with a feather-light charm at the bottom of each of our armoires."

Upon searching and finding these bags, each man began to pack all the necessities for the next week.

"How long do you think we should stay?" Harry queried as he pulled out several mixes of both Muggle and Wizard clothing from his dresser, as well as boots, and trainers.

"How long will it take us to get there and travel to meet with Daeron?"

"Perhaps a day, at most."

"Well, we should probably pack for a week, and if we need to stay any longer we'll buy Elvin clothing to wear." Lucius commented airily as he pulled a bag of galleons from a compartment in his armoire.

Hearing the jingle of money, Harry turned to Lucius with a curious glance. "Uh, Lucius, elves only trade in gold. They try not to travel to the Wizarding World too often. Galleons are worthless to them."

Lucius sighed and changed the bag of galleons for another jingling bag which he then threw into his bottomless satchel. Harry looked to his blonde mate with one raised brow.

"I have a bag of gold coins as well as a bag of galleons in my closet for emergencies." He responded to the unasked question with a smirk then returned to packing again.

Harry shrugged off the whole thing and went to the bathroom for a toothbrush, hairbrush, and other supplies. When he reentered the room, Lucius had been just about to go to the bathroom for his things, but Harry stopped him.

"I got yours as well."

Lucius smiled warmly and kissed his mate's cheek. "Thank you." He took his things and noticed Harry had also brought his hair supplies. He had such a thoughtful mate.

Thinking of his mate, led him to thinking of their conversation the night before, which also caused him to remember what they _hadn't_ talked about the previous night.

How do you bring that kind of topic up? This would take a lot of strategic planning, and grace, and-

"Do you want children?"

-smooth…. Real smooth, Lucius….

"Excuse me?" Harry's eyes flashed open and his head snapped up to be level with Lucius. He dropped the pajamas he had been holding and his wide eyes locked with Lucius' panicked ones.

_How do I do damage control for this blunder of words?_ Lucius thought frantically.

Harry's heart was hammering in his chest. What had Lucius just said? Children?

"I asked if, perhaps, you would… ever want… maybe… children of your, eh, uh, our…. _Own_?" The blonde's voice cracked on his last word, but Harry wasn't thinking about that at the moment. Had Lucius just…? Did he want…? How could they…?

"You want another child?" Harry asked very softly, his voice barely heard to Lucius' sensitive ears.

"I, uh…" Lucius wasn't sure what to say, but his veela gave him a little nudge, urging him to speak truthfully to his mate. "I would love to have another child with you." He answered sincerely, though his face was schooled into a mask of indifference in case this conversation went south.

Harry's face split into the biggest grin he'd ever seen Harry make, then he looked curious. "How? Adoption?"

Now it was Lucius' turn to look thoughtful. "What? I was thinking more the natural route."

"Natural? You mean with a surrogate mother?"

Again, Lucius looked even more confused, then something seemed to dawn on him, and he smiled. The blonde walked over to the other side of the bed that his mate stood beside. He pulled him down onto the bed so that they sat beside one another.

"Harry, wizards have the ability to carry their own children, should they be in a relationship with another wizard," he explained calmly and watched as Harry's expression went from confounded, to loving, to shocked, to a blank but wide-eyed stare off into space as he thought over the news he had just been given. "I imagine it isn't something that they taught at Hogwarts because it's just basic knowledge in our world, but it is probably unknown to Muggle-borns."

The dark-haired wizard looked back to Lucius with a tentative smile. "No… that was most definitely not something we were taught in school. It isn't a complete shock though, because when I lived in the Elvin World with Remus, we had a friend that was male and with child, so it isn't a new concept, but it's just amazing to know that wizards are as fertile as elves." Again Harry's mind briefly contemplated how he had almost made fun of Lucius for knowing so little about Muggles, when he, himself, still didn't know everything about being a wizard.

"Really, it isn't a matter of fertility. It's just a matter of how much magic one possesses, and whether it is enough to sustain a child. Elves have a great deal of untapped magic. It is one of the few things we know about them, so they naturally are quite fertile and so the men can also bear children, but wizards need to say an incantation during love making for the chance to impregnate each other. I'm not positive on the logistics of it, but I think the incantation causes a womb of magic to grow in the child-bearer; and the womb itself is like an egg, which accepts the sperm of the other mate. If the magics meld correctly, then a child begins to develop, and if not, then the magic evaporates."

"So…" Harry stared off into space, then into his mate's eyes as he reached a hand up to stroke the golden tresses from Lucius' face as he leaned closer. "We can have children of our own." He stated euphorically.

"Yes." Lucius could barely comprise a word to speak through this haze of love that had clouded his eyes and caused all of his senses to expand as his veela found complete peace in its mate.

Harry leaned forward and captured Lucius' lips in a deep kiss of passion.

_Children! We can have children! Oh, gods! I can have the family that I've always yearned for._ Harry lost himself in the kiss before pushing Lucius back onto the bed.

Packing could wait. They had some business to attend to now!

* * *

Harry hummed softly as he pulled from Lucius and relaxed beside him on the bed with a contented sigh. The blonde breathed in and out deeply before turning to furl himself around his mate, pulling the blanket over them. The veela rested his head in the crook of his mate's neck and inhaled his scent before relaxing around him.

With a gentle smile and touch, Harry reached over and stroked Lucius' stomach before settling his hand on the blonde's hip.

"Would you want to bear the child?" he asked curiously.

Quite a few thoughts streamed through Lucius' head and Harry allowed him plenty of time to think his answer over as he continued to pet the blonde tenderly.

Would there be a lot of pain? Would there be scars and stretch marks? Narcissa had had stretch marks and pulled muscles in her stomach that had stopped her from being able to lose fat around her belly. It would be wonderful though. To have life growing inside of you. To know that you carried your child into this magical world. To know that you and your mate were connected eternally through this little creature. To have another son, or daughter running around and giggling. One of them would have to do it if they wanted children of their own. Lucius could plainly tell that Harry wanted _children_ as much as he did. He wasn't sure if his mate wanted more than one, or wanted to share the responsibility…. He had stayed out of Narcissa's way during her pregnancy, due to her volatile behavior and mood-swings.

"How many people do you know that have been pregnant?" Lucius asked cautiously.

Harry hummed in thought before responding to the sub-topic. He even counted on his fingers as he remembered each person, which made Lucius' lips quirk in bemusement.

"Five that I can remember vividly," he replied after a moment. He decided he would elaborate on those people because Lucius seemed questioning about them. "I knew my friend Hermione through her pregnancy and stillborn child." Lucius felt a pang in his heart and a tightening in his chest. Not really so much for the girl that he had met formally today, but for the prospect that he hadn't considered. What if their child was stillborn, or something happened to it? Harry felt Lucius' worry and increased heart rate, and calmed it with a kiss to his lips. "Shh. Calm down. Bad things happen, but that isn't a reason to not try for a child of our own. Draco came out just fine, and with parents as powerful as we are, I'm sure our child will too."

Lucius blushed slightly that he had gotten so worked up so quickly, but he was happy that his mate understood and calmed his fears easily. "What about the others you knew?"

"Well, I knew Angelina, George Weasley's wife through most of her pregnancy. She seemed happy about it whenever I saw her, and George never complained about any kind of odd behavior besides her eating habits. She really only ever complained about how heavy their child was. It hurt her back and ankles something terrible. She came out of it looking fine though. You saw her today. She's pregnant again, so it couldn't have been _too_ bad. She didn't show that she even had a child at the time in between. She was as fit as she was during Quidditch," Harry commented airily, one arm under his head as he lay looking at the ceiling as he thought of things to say. "Ellen (Moon) Weasley, whom you also met today, is Ron's wife. Their first child was born about five months ago. The only flock Ron ever got was for opening his big mouth at the exact wrong moment around Ellen. They would be sitting on the couch, and she would ask him to get her some chocolate, and he would be a stupid idiot and say something to the effect of maybe she should eat something healthier. He would end up with a bruise on the back of his head, and she would have him sleep on the couch after she cursed him for thinking she was fat and crying." Harry smiled evilly as he remembered the whole event.

"It's only funny until it happens to you." Lucius warned his mate. Harry's smile didn't falter.

"Both sides of the marriage have an equally as difficult time during pregnancies. The father is trying to make the mother as comfortable as possible. The mother doesn't feel that the other person understands at all. The mother has to sustain a life, while the father has to take care of everything else along with work and dealing with the mood swings and whatnot, and protecting the mother. I know it will be tough for both of us, but whenever I see my friends suffering with their wives, I give them a nudge and tell them, 'Hey, man, you got a kid in there,' and their eyes kind of glaze over as they think about it. They always smile and nod, then sigh thinking about what is to come." Harry wrapped an arm around Lucius and held him tightly. "I have an idea." Lucius looked into his eyes curiously. "How about we let a healer decide?"

"What?" Lucius asked with a scowl. Let someone else decide who should carry their child? That was preposterous.

"We'll talk to an Elvin healer. They are very smart and they have had a lot of practice in delivering babies from male parents, so they will have a better insight on which of us it is safer for to carry a child. We can see which is best for both the parent and child, and we will decide it like that. Maybe there is a better age for a person to have children. Maybe younger is better, you know?" Harry squeezed Lucius' shoulder and gave him a quick kiss. Lucius thought about that as he gazed into his mate's eyes. It was definitely the best option. They wanted what was best for the child, and a healer would know, so it was decided then.

"Okay, you have won me over. When we get to the Elvin Realm we'll find the best healers and consult them."

"Good." Harry yawned deeply before pulling away from Lucius and getting up to stretch. "We still have to pack then we can get back to the whole resting thing," he reminded as he lazily scratched his stomach and hip briefly.

Lucius watched his mate's easy grace before getting up himself, pulling on a thin robe and finishing up his packing too.

* * *

Draco grumbled incoherently as he felt something very light touching his nose. It felt like a fly and the younger blonde tried to shoo it away in his hazy half-sleeping state of mind, but it only came back after he had settled again.

"Fucking bugs," he mumbled as he swatted at the thing at a faster pace this time.

"Language, love," a voice commented in scorn, and without missing a beat Draco responded:

"Fuck off, Potter."

It was several moments later that Draco came to sudden attention and shot up in bed. "What the fuck are you doing in my room?" the blonde snapped hysterically in his sleepy haze.

"Time to get up, Draco. We're off to the Elvin Realm."

* * *

Draco looked around at the barren town of Hogsmeade as they Apparated. He sneered at the seedy looking shadowed buildings.

"It's so early the fucking owls aren't even up yet!"

"Are you going to be like this all day?" Harry asked airily with a sigh. He looked at Draco warily, then turned and began the long trek to the Forbidden Forest.

Draco humphed then glared at his father who seemed perfectly awake for three or four o'clock in the morning… whatever godforsaken time of the morning it was.

"You seem _awfully_ perky," he snapped, emphasizing how 'awful' that was.

Lucius casually glanced over to his son before starting to walk after his mate. "I had some fantastic morning sex before he woke you up."

The younger blonde cringed.

With a grunt of disgust, Draco began striding after his father and Harry.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N : I've editted this story, mostly for grammar purposes, but as of Chapter 4, the plot has changed slightly. It's not a huge deal and you don't have to reread it if you don't want to, but I've changed the events of Chapter 4 and added a few scenes. However, mostly everything is superficial and you can just read on from there if you want.**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Where's the damn door, Potter?" Draco demanded for what seemed like the millionth time. "You would think _someone_ would have taken the initiative to ask where the door was rather than spending our whole _holiday_ searching for the damn thing! I can't believe I agreed to walk instead of taking transportation. We aren't _anywhere_ even _near_ the stupid kingdom we have to get to. Where will we sleep if we don't make it there by dark?" Draco suddenly gasped in shock and horror. "We won't sleep in a _cottage_, will we?"

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy! I can't goddamn remember where it is. I only remember what it feels like. I went in the door once and came out a different door. So have some fucking patience!" The Gryffindor heaved a heavy sigh as he pressed his hand to another tree that seemed to be quite old compared to the others. "And if we don't get there by dark, we won't sleep in a cottage." Draco seemed to take a great measure of relief from this statement. "We'll be sleeping on the _ground_!"

"You wouldn't do that to a Malfoy!" Draco responded indignantly. The veela seemed to duel with himself for a moment before he returned dryly, "Your sense of humor is simply appalling, Potter."

"Draco, Harry's trying to concentrate and you are being of little help. Let him be," the patriarch ordered as he approached his son, stepping over a dead branch.

Harry smiled gratefully to his lover as he continued looking for the entrance, pressing his hands to different tree trunks.

"Besides, I'm sure Harry was just teasing you about sleeping on the ground. Right, Harry?"

Harry smacked his forehead hard in frustration then groaned as he leaned tiredly against the next tree. He was just about to come out with a nasty retort when he felt warmth beneath his hand. He spun around and pressed both hands to the tree.

"This is it!" he exclaimed, hearing comments of relief from both blondes behind him.

With his eyes closed and both hands firmly planted on the tree he breathed deeply. "Now, let me concentrate."

They both nodded and stepped back from the Gryffindor. They could practically see the magic radiating off Harry, but soon enough he was stepping back from the tree and crossing his arms.

The relief Draco felt at having found the door lasted for about ten seconds after Harry had stopped what he was doing to stare at it.

Nothing was happening.

…

Still nothing was happening.

…

He thought that it would, perhaps, take a bit longer for something to happen.

…

…

Nothing happened for about a minute before Draco became frustrated again.

"We're just staring at a damn tree! Nothing's happening! Isn't something supposed to be happening?"

"Shut up, Draco!" both Harry and Lucius shouted in unison.

At last a groan and creak sounded from the tree. It began to sway and bend. Its roots began to pull and twist free from the dirt in the ground. They curved up and around in an arch until finally the entire tree froze.

Harry smiled crookedly at the makeshift entrance. "That's it." He smiled at the two astounded blondes next to him.

"It looks dark in there," the younger blonde voiced. "Are you sure there's life on the other side of that? Shouldn't it be sunny on the other side or something of the sort?"

The Auror groaned in aggravation before stepping away from his blondes and into the darkness. "Don't be such a chicken-shit girl, Malfoy." Harry grumbled as he disappeared into the darkness completely.

"I am _not_ frightened!" Draco bellowed, but the sound of his voice merely died in the blackness instead of projecting or echoing, which left a very disconcerting feeling in both men. He looked subtly to his father to see what he thought, but the man was glaring at the door. With a determined sigh though, he straightened his cloak and stepped forward before turning to his son.

"Draco, you are coming, are you not?" he asked with a cool mask of indifference and slight irritation, but Draco assumed that was because his mate had just walked into a door of darkness alone, with no opposite side visible.

The question caused Draco to sneer at the door uncomfortably.

"Do you honestly think Harry would put our lives in danger?" Lucius demanded sharply, as if to defend his mate.

The younger veela glared at his father before spinning his scarf over his shoulder and huffing as he stormed through the door.

With a glare around himself to make sure he was alone, Lucius took the final steps into the door as well. As soon as he was through he felt the magic closing behind him.

The darkness lasted for about half a stride before Lucius was through the door and looking around a much different, yet equally as old forest.

This forest was much brighter and the trees were a bit further apart, but they were much wider and leaves of odd shapes hung from them. The floor of the forest was grassy and the beams of light shined through the treetops so far above their heads. The only thing out of place in the forest was the eerie silence. A distinct lack of creature noises was present and it made Lucius' survival instincts kick in.

A whispered conversation stole Lucius' gaze away from the forest surrounding him and brought him to his mate, who stood beside two men, chatting with them in hushed tones. They must have been some kind of soldiers because of the crest on their backs, and the swords at their hips, but they were not dressed in armor. They dressed in hunting clothes that would make next to no sound as they moved. Why would some form of hunter come to get them, though? Even though the weather was slightly warm for jackets, these men didn't even have sleeves. They wore leather gauntlets on their arms and sleeveless tunics over their breeches and boots.

Lucius warily walked closer to his irked son who was looking at the two tall men conversing with Harry.

Seeing Harry standing beside these men brought a bought of possessiveness on Lucius, though he could clearly tell that what these men spoke with Harry about was serious due to their expressions. He tried to force most of his angst down and continue with the point for this journey.

"What are they speaking of?" Lucius asked Draco softly, wondering why his son was so angry.

"I _don't know_," Draco snapped loudly so the other three men could hear him clearly. "I don't speak _Elvish_." Clearly the comment and source of the miffed Draco was the conversation he couldn't understand.

However, Draco's comment did garner Harry's weary attention. The Auror glared at Draco for being rude before mumbling a few more things to the men and gesturing for them to walk over.

"Lucius and Draco, this is Maeron and Nendir. They are the two guards that will be escorting us to the castle. They were just telling me about the dangers in this part of the forest that have recently taken up residence here. Apparently, there are creatures called Wulfa here. They are basically extremely large wolves with poisonous fangs. The poison is meek and easily counteracted, but the real threat is the actual creatures."

Both father and son pulled their wands from their pockets and began warily looking around.

"Those will do you no good," the brunet named Maeron proclaimed.

"And why do you say that?" Lucius drawled in his I'm-in-public Malfoy-esc tone.

"There are wards around this gate in a five mile radius which restrict the use of _all_ magic," the guard explained.

"_Stupefy_," Draco called out, pointing his wand at a tree. He growled when nothing happened. "_Lumos_!" Still nothing. "Damn it!" he shouted before turning to Harry. "Why the hell didn't you tell us that?"

Harry glared at Draco. "The wards weren't installed until after I came here and they are only in this area because all the other gates lead into Muggle territory where wizards _never_ go." He glanced to Nendir briefly. "And apparently they're thinking of putting the wards there too because so many wizards have been visiting this world."

"How many is 'so many'?"

"Four so far," Harry murmured with a sly smile to the guards. "They realize though that if they don't put the wards at the other gates the Minister might eventually want to visit here, but if magic isn't possible for five miles with Wulfa hunting the area, then the Minister will never want to come for a visit."

Nendir smiled secretively at Harry before clearing his throat. "So, we must be careful in our travels. Wulfa usually hunt at night, but predawn could still be a treacherous time when stragglers are still hunting."

"Well, where is the carriage?" Draco huffed, with his hand on his hip and a demeaning look around.

The guards shared a bemused and frustrated look with Harry.

"He has been like this all day," Harry told them with a sigh before turning back to the Malfoys. "There are no roads in this forest, so there is no carriage, Draco. We're walking until we get out of this forest, then we are going to meet up with several other guards who are holding horses for us to travel to the castle."

Draco's mouth fell open in silent horror. "_Walk_ five miles!"

Lucius was massaging his temples. He was obviously frustrated with the same toils as Draco, but he was also distracted by the lack-of-grace and rudeness that Draco was displaying. What must these people think of Veela now?

Harry pulled his bag off of his shoulder and plopped it on the ground.

"When did you un-shrink your bag?" Draco demanded sharply.

"If you stand just barely inside the door you can manage a small amount of magic," Harry told the blondes as he began digging through it. The guards were keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings to protect their new cargo.

"Why didn't you tell us that?" Draco snapped. "What if I want something in my bag halfway across this mountain range?"

"I didn't tell you because if you un-shrunk your bag now, then you would have to carry it, and I don't need to hear you bitching the entire way about how heavy and annoying and sweaty having to carry your bag is!" Harry snapped, his eyes fiery and angry as they glared at Draco from under his bangs.

Draco was about to snarl a retort, when he heard the echo of a howl in the distance. He didn't need to ask what it was. He began fidgeting from foot to foot before trying to calm himself into his regular Malfoy prowess. He glared half-heartedly back at Harry.

"Well, what did you need in your bag?"

He wasn't answered as Harry pulled out two sheaths with what looked like short-swords inside. Draco and Lucius' eyes widened in surprise as Harry checked the blades to make sure they were fine.

Lucius didn't remember seeing Harry pack _those_.

* * *

"Hurry, Marcaunon. We should not stay here long," Maeron added, his gaze in the direction of the howl.

Harry pulled off his jacket and, through a series of quick ties with straps of leather, he had the blades resting tightly against his back with the hilts at each of his hips. He gave a confident short pull of both curved blades to get the feel of them again and make sure he could put them back easily before he shoved his jacket in his bag and knotted the bag to his belt. Because it had a feather-light charm before he even entered the Elvin Realm, the bag was virtually nonexistent to Harry.

"Okay," Harry murmured to the guards with a nod.

"Harry, where did you get those?" Lucius asked as he approached his mate.

"Aurors are required to at least _own_ some kind of weapon for combat if an anti-magical ward is in place. I picked these up the last time I was in this realm." Harry glanced at the guards and began speaking in Elvish to them fluently. "We have to go quickly." Harry reached out and took Lucius' hand in his as he began walking in the direction he thought they were supposed to go. "Draco!" Harry called over his shoulder. Maeron was standing beside the other blonde who seemed dazed. Suddenly, though, Draco came back to himself, glowered at Maeron, and dashed over to Harry so he didn't have to be _escorted_.

Nendir was already ten paces ahead of Harry and Maeron was steadily keeping up from behind.

"Some vacation," Draco muttered darkly as he glanced worriedly around.

"It'll be fine after we get to the edge of the forest."

"It's just getting there that's the problem," Draco grumbled.

Despite all the arguing and bickering they had done that day, Harry threw his arm around Draco's shoulders, letting his hand slither up to stroke his hair tenderly. "I won't let anything happen to you," he promised fiercely. He got a flicker of a smile from Draco.

Harry turned to Lucius and put his other arm around his mate's waist before nuzzling the taller man's neck. "You will both be fine. I know both of these guards. They are fine Elvin Soldiers and even if they fail to protect us, _I_ will not."

Lucius kissed his mate in reply to his vow and tried to just look forward to when they reached their destination; he didn't even _want_ to think about how they would be getting back.

* * *

As the sounds of a stream could be heard, Harry perked up from his conversation with Nendir. "Oh!" He glanced at the ragged looking blondes behind him who were grumbling quietly to each other. "Let's stop for some water. Do you have a water skin?"

Nendir nodded and pulled a bottle made of animal skin from his belt. "I'm out too, so that's a great idea." He turned and whistled to his partner, who perked up from looking to his right to share a glance with Nendir.

He jogged up to where Nendir and Harry were conversing to see what was happening.

"What's going on _now_?" Draco questioned with a huff.

"We're going to hike over to that stream over there and take a break. The water is very clear here, so it's also great to drink."

Draco perked up at this, but sneered at the thought of drinking water from a stream of dirt.

Lucius sighed heavily, but they obviously wouldn't get anything better than stream water, so he was resigned to it. "Lead the way, gentlemen." He gestured tiredly. Draco was right. Harry's idea of a vacation stunk worse than Hagrid. Then again, this was all so Draco could meet and be wooed by Daeron, so really… it was worth it for his son to have a mate and be happy for the rest of his life like Lucius was.

* * *

As they entered a small clearing of large trees, they finally saw the stream that had been mentioned. There was nothing but rocks at the bottom and the water shown beautifully clear straight to the bed. You only had to walk through a line of trees to get to the stream from the clearing.

"I'm hungry," Draco complained.

"Stop sounding like such a petulant _child_," Harry demanded.

Draco glared at him as he thought of his complaint for a moment so he could rephrase it less childishly. "I am the complete opposite of satisfied to the point that my stomach really must protest. Please rectify the situation immediately… before more griping and bitching ensues."

"I don't know which is worse, the polite asshole or the whiny bitch."

"It's really not safe to stop for too great a length of time," Nendir stated as he went to patrol the area. "We'll stop and eat when we're safely out of this forest."

Draco sighed deeply, but gave in with a pout.

Lucius found a large flat rock in the clearing beside the stream to sit on and give his feet a rest. Though he had worn walking shoes they were more like shoes to go walking around a market all day, or an office building… not to go hiking in the woods for miles on end!

Maeron and Nendir were making a circuit of the area to patrol for anything dangerous, but the older veela just ignored them as he tried to act as dignified as possible while rolling his ankle and stretching his legs tiredly.

Quite suddenly, though, Lucius found Harry kneeling beside his legs and pulling one of his boots into his lap. His gut instinct was to pull his foot back, but he resisted the urge and just watched curiously as his mate began untying his boot.

"What are you doing?" Lucius asked a bit grumpily, but Harry didn't respond, and soon Lucius found his boot off and a gentle massage taking place on his foot.

Oh! It felt heavenly!

The blonde felt like he was the luckiest veela in the world. His mate could already pick up on his pains and he was massaging his feet to ease his pain. Who would do that?

* * *

Over Harry's head, Draco was watching the scene keenly.

The younger blonde suspected that Harry felt guilty for making them walk, but it was obviously more because they were mates that Harry was rubbing the aches from Lucius' sweaty and probably smelly feet. Draco sneered at the mere idea of touching anyone's feet after so long of a walk. Who would do that? That was disgusting… but his father appeared to be enjoying his ministrations quite a bit. The relief washing over his face was clear.

Once one foot had had thorough attention paid to it, Harry reached for the other boot and continued the same treatment to it.

_This is love,_ Draco thought. Well, maybe not foot rubbing, but the general idea of doing something, which Draco saw as demeaning, to relieve your mate or make them comfortable. To be able to see the pain in the eyes of someone else and want to do anything to change that pain.

…to be able to sense these things from your counterpart without having to say a word….

* * *

"Thank you, Harry," Lucius whispered tenderly.

"Do you feel better, my love?"

"Yes," the veela answered, even as Harry began gently easing his feet back into his boots and lacing them back up.

"Good." As Harry looked up to his left he saw Maeron watching him as he leaned against a tree. His scaly armor-tunic gleaned in the sunlight as he stood there. The man had a smirk cornering his mouth as he made his presence known to the blondes.

"The area is secure."

"Thanks. Could I have your water skin now? I'm sure we're all pretty thirsty." Maeron handed the man his canteen before turning to Lucius with a pensive blue gaze.

"You are very lucky to have such a mate as Harry."

"I know," Lucius told him, not knowing how to take the comment, but holding his head high nonetheless.

* * *

Harry knelt by the water's edge to fill the water skin, but as he reached for the water a shadow crossed over the opposite bank. As he slowly looked up, Harry's gaze met that of a startled unicorn. He didn't make any sudden movements, but he tried to not seem tense as well. Though most unicorns were harmless, they would defend their young if threatened. By the looks of it, this was a mare, and he didn't know if there was a foal around, so Harry didn't want to chance scaring the creature.

He slowly raised his hand and made an Elvin gesture toward the creature as he mumbled some Elvish to it.

The frightened unicorn relaxed visibly and shook out its head as if to relieve any remaining tension.

With a small smile Harry began to dip the water skin back into the stream. A whinny from the creature caused him to pause though. The unicorn held his gaze for a moment before dipping her horn into the water. The gesture caused a sudden sparkle to shoot through the water. Harry gasped as he recognized the gesture. He quickly filled the canteen up and bowed to the elegant unicorn. Just as the unicorn had continued to drink from the water, Harry remembered the wolf-like creatures in the area.

As he watched the beauty of the mare drinking, he wondered if she knew of the threat as well. With a soft whistle he caught her attention and made the Elvin sign for danger as he pointed off in the distance. She seemed startled and they both jumped to attention as a sudden howl brought them out of their peace.

She took off without a backward glance, and Harry smiled at that. Suddenly, though, he felt someone sharply grab his arm. He spun to find Maeron looking worriedly at him.

"That one sounded closer than the last." He gestured for Harry to hurry.

As they made their way around a few trees to the clearing they had stopped in, Harry passed around the canteen to his mate first.

Lucius seemed hesitant, but Harry's easy smile allowed him to take a drink for his parched throat.

Instead of the water tasting dirty, he found it was purest tasting water he'd ever had and he wanted to drink the rest of it. He passed the container to Draco who looked dubiously at his father.

"How was it?" Harry queried knowingly.

"I've never tasted anything so clear and pure. That was _delicious_ water."

Nendir and Maeron seemed curious as Draco also took a sip. "You didn't happen to see a unicorn around, did you?" both brunets asked Harry, but the wizard just smiled and nodded.

"How did you tame a unicorn into dipping his horn in the water?" Nendir demanded with a bark of laughter. "That's a trick only for Elves!"

"Ack! The world-walker spends too much time with us. Spying on our ways," Maeron added with a sly grin before moving to patrol the trail ahead quickly.

"What has that got to do with the water?" Lucius sneered at the elves.

"When a unicorn touches their horn to water it purifies into what you just drank. Our water is no different than yours, if perhaps without the pollution of your Muggle world."

"The reason they ask is that unicorns are not partial to men in general, but they are especially wary of mortals, or really any race that is not Elvin. I used an Elvin gesture and spoke 'friend' to her and she calmed. She was safe on the other side anyway, so I think that was enough to calm her." He paused as he looked in the direction of the howl from before. The guardians seemed to come back to themselves as they each took a drink of the clear liquid.

"We should pick up the pace. We aren't too far from the border. Another hour of walking and we'll be there and can rest." Maeron added the resting bit in hopes of getting the blondes to move more quickly.

He didn't need to say anything else, though. The howl was enough to get even Draco moving with little to no complaints.

* * *

The next hour was a distinctly quiet one. Despite the sounds of their footsteps and the brushing of foliage in the breeze, their trek was in relative silence – a great relief to everyone who had listened to Draco complaining for the last few hours.

No one really wanted to strike up any conversation or make any unnecessary noise to attract any unsavory company, so the time passed slowly and in silence.

It wasn't until several forms could be spotted in the distance that the silence broke.

"The barrier!" Nendir exclaimed, relieved despite his calm outward appearance.

The remaining travelers looked up ahead to see a brigade and carriage awaiting them on a clear path outside a dense barrier of trees, boulders and bushes.

Lucius and Draco released a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding and smiled slightly in relief.

The older veela automatically sought out his mate's gaze, but couldn't find him for a moment. He spun around to find both Harry and Maeron scowling back in the distance toward their tracks.

Harry tapped Maeron's shoulder and spun back to his blondes. "Go!" he snapped in a hushed tone.

"Come with us," Lucius demanded harshly, beginning to fear for his mate and son as he saw the panic in Harry's eyes.

"Not until you're both safe. Nendir!" Harry called sharply. The elf turned, having been distracted by the brigade of elves ahead, but now he looked back to see what had happened during his daydreaming. "Take them quickly to the barrier. We're being tracked."

The elf seemed like he wanted to protest, but a howl in the distance and quick snarl from Harry had him more pliant:

"Get them safely to the barrier so they can at least defend themselves with magic, damn it, I'm _ordering_ you!"

The older elf quickly grabbed each veela's arm with a surprising strength that easily dragged the furious and squirming veelas behind him.

Neither Lucius nor Draco wanted to leave Harry if he was about to fight, but they also couldn't aid in any way without magic, so they needed to get to the barrier, but they didn't want to go without Harry. The damn hero that he was being, he probably assumed he had to distract whatever was following them so they could get to safety.

They could all hear Harry and Maeron unsheathing their blades and the sound of metal being released from its case sent a thrill of dread through them.

As Nendir approached the barrier at a point where he was only a few yards away he called to his race in their tongue.

They turned and saw his approach through the darkened trees. A leader among them in armored regalia with a thick crest on his chest responded in hurried Elvish.

As soon as Lucius passed the tree-line he pulled his arm from Nendir's grip and unsheathed his wand. He spun back to face the forest, but could neither hear nor see anything from within… only darkness.

He began to panic, but decided that he would wait for Harry to come out of the forest. At least he could fight beside his mate then.

Draco was quick to be at his side in much the same state. His son quickly cast a _Lumos_ to make sure their magic worked, then _Nox_ so that he was ready for whatever would come.

"These damned Gryffindor tendencies of his…" Draco grumbled. "I thought we had broken him of this."

Lucius grinned slightly despite his stress.

A sudden distinct roar of pain from some kind of creature echoed throughout the eerie silence of the forest.

Without missing a beat, Harry suddenly charged through the barrier of the tree-line nearly getting his head taken off for his startling appearance.

The black-haired wizard regarded the armored elves with wild eyes. It was obvious by his posture, eyes, and bloodied daggers that he had been in contact with the creature that had most-probably just died. He had blood on him, but by his gesture to everyone they could tell that both Harry and Maeron were fine.

The commander addressed Harry in Elvish shortly and Harry responded in kind as he turned to face the forest and back away from it at the same time. Most of the warriors were strategically placed and had already drawn their weapons of choice: swords and bows with arrows already notched and aimed toward the forest.

"Maeron is coming. He was only pulling his sword from the Wulfa when I left him," Harry announced as he pulled both Draco and Lucius gently further from the offending forest.

A loud distinct whistle announced Maeron's appearance before they actually saw said-elf abruptly break through the brush and hurriedly approach the commander of the Elvin soldiers. It was a good thing that he had announced his entrance because with the way that the Elvin soldiers' strings were tensed, they might have fired at anything that came out of those woods.

"We killed one of them, but they always hunt in packs, and I think another will follow soon."

As soon as Maeron finished speaking a low growl met their ears and a blur shot from the bushes toward the carriage, destroying the wooden structure as it landed on it, and pouncing onto the nearest soldier. The elf swung his sword at the creature, slashing its side and throwing it off into a cluster of others causing everyone to scatter out of its way.

Harry grabbed Lucius and jumped aside with him, wincing as he rolled them out of the way so that when their momentum stopped Harry was astride his mate to protect him with his body while he curled backwards with his bloody knife bared and his eyes fixed on the Wulfa.

At the same moment as Harry had grabbed Lucius, Maeron and Nendir had picked Draco up completely and jumped aside –Maeron holding Draco, and Nendir standing before them with his sword, on guard.

The Wulfa was stunned for a moment, but it then bared its fangs in a fierce bloody snarl. Several archers had already let their arrows fly as soon as the creature was stable for a moment, finding purchase in the beast's chest and flank, but not bringing it down.

After a deep breath of the air, the Wulfa turned its ferocious one-hundred-pound head around to stare menacingly at Harry and, more importantly, the veela beneath him.

Harry tensed noticeably, his eyes widening in realization of what the monster before them was smelling that made him so keen on Lucius.

_The Veela blood,_ Harry thought with a burning fear.

"_Sectum Sempra_!" Draco hollered from the other side of the Wulfa, causing the creature to shriek in pain and crouch menacingly as it spun to look at the cause.

Harry pulled Lucius from the ground. "Shouldn't it have done a lot more damage than that?" Lucius asked over the screeching cries of the beast.

"Our magic isn't as effective on these creatures. The 'Avada Kedavra' won't kill it either. It takes a knife through their heart to kill them."

The commander of the elves ran gracefully from behind the Wulfa and leapt onto its back, sinking a dagger between its shoulder blades, causing the beast to rear back.

"Lucius, bind his front legs! Now!" Harry shouted as he charged forward to aid the commander. Ropes shot out of Lucius' wand a moment later and knotted tightly around the Wulfa's front legs in the middle of it rearing back, with the commander still astride his back.

With a battle cry wringing from him, Harry ran and jumped up to balance momentarily on the creature's bound legs before it toppled. He unsheathed his other dagger, slid one through the bottom the monster's jaw and into the top so it couldn't bite him, while he sent the other deep into its chest and through its heart before leaping backwards and stepping out of harms way.

The commander, likewise, leapt off the creature leaving their weapons inside of it as they watched it balance for the slightest moment before crumpling over onto its side and lying motionless. The few seconds that it had taken to bind and kill the creature had left it still in the mid-motion of pain from when the commander had stabbed it. Now, it bled fiercely from the many sword marks, arrows, dagger holes, and pierces that it suffered.

After everyone was sure that the beast was dead, the commander walked slowly over to Harry and offered his hand.

"Marcaunon. It is a pleasure fighting beside you always," he complimented with a smirk. He then turned to Lucius and nodded. "You aided well. Are you a friend of Marcaunon?"

"I am the mate of Marcaunon," Lucius corrected, mincing the pronunciation of the name a bit, with a small frown of annoyance at the entire conversation.

"He is Veela," Harry added helpfully.

"Oh, then that is why the creature turned to you both! I had thought that it might be because of you (Harry), but that didn't seem to make much sense since they don't taste magic any differently unless it is a magically blooded creature. It makes much more sense now. Well, blessings to you, Marcaunon, and your mate…"

"Lucius Malfoy."

The commander nodded once to him before spinning and stalking toward Maeron and Draco.

"You fought well, young one. I assume that you are related to the mate of Marcaunon, and are, therefore, a son of his. I can see where you get your skill. You acted well, though I do not know what your intention was in your _spell_."

"I didn't know it wouldn't work properly in this place." Draco huffed. It was a dig at his father and yet it wasn't, and he didn't know how he should take the comment. Should he be complimented, or was the comment only because he is technically Harry's son in their eyes? Who or what is Marcaunon?

"It isn't this place," Harry told him, stepping closer again. "The creature is very resistant to our magic, so your spell did harm him because it's a powerful one and you said it with such meaning, but only a few of our spells could actually affect him."

"You did well, Draco. That was fast thinking." This wasn't a compliment Lucius would usually voice aloud, but this… _native_ elf needed to hear that Draco was actually in the right, even if the sentiment was a _little_ over the top. "I had no idea how we would get out of that one. Without you, that would have certainly gone worse." The praise in his father's voice made Draco blush under his _proper_ compliment.

"Of course, my other half," Harry began, catching on and wanting the commander to see Lucius in a better light as well, as he made eyes with Lucius, "acted impeccably to restrain the Wulfa and help take it down. Most people would have tried the Body-Bind jinx on it when I said bind his legs."

Lucius smirked like a true Malfoy. These elves didn't understand the thought and power that went into their spells and castings, so this little _display_ would at least educate them. "You had just told me that our spells didn't work properly on those creatures." Lucius explained his reasoning with an elegant indifference, though he was itching to let his Cheshire Cat grin out. "I didn't know how much the Body-Bind jinx would actually do, so I thought the ropes would be more pertinent. I hadn't thought of the mouth though," he added with a hair of dejection on his part. How could he be so stupid to forget the mouth? He hadn't thought until he had seen Harry mere inches from the beast's five-inch long poisonous incisors.

"I didn't tell you to bind its mouth, love," Harry told him softly, dropping the act. "You did exactly what I wanted you to, like a second pair of hands."

They gazed lovingly at each other for a moment.

The other soldiers milled around the area, picking up scattered supplies, trying to fix the carriage, gathering up the startled horses, checking that the beast was finally dead, and securing the area once again with Elvin magic as they reapplied the barrier they had taken down for the exit of their visitors.

"Your weapons, Marcaunon!" the commander called from beside the Wulfa.

Harry walked over to the dead creature and together both he and the commander pulled their weapons from it.

"What will you do with the bodies of the Wulfa?" Draco asked with his trademark sneer aimed at the foul-smelling carcass.

"The one in the forest rightfully belongs to the forest because it was killed there, but this one will have to be disposed of." The commander called over five of the guard that had been waiting for them and set them to a circle around the dead Wulfa.

Harry walked in the other direction to clean off his bloody blades.

"What are they doing?" Draco asked indignantly, as he watched a small prayer take place around the Wulfa before they all took out knives and began carving at it.

Harry only glanced at the scene Draco was watching before turning back to his task. He could hear the disdain in Lucius' voice as he joined them with his own curiosity.

"A small ritual is performed over the dead creature before they dismantle it for ingredients. The meat is no good for eating, but certain parts of it are used for potions. The jaw, for instance, has a gland in it with the venom that secretes from their fangs. The venom from the Wulfa is used in the creation of the anti-venom. Other things, such as the heart, pelt, and bones, are all useful. Elves try not to let anything go to waste. The carcass is too heavy to haul all the way to the castle, so they'll just take the most important things now, and leave the rest for Mother Nature, or perhaps they'll come back later for it."

"Do they do this often?" Lucius asked morosely.

"Wulfa _ingredients_," Harry shrugged at the term that he used, "are rare because of the danger and effort it takes to kill and dissect them. There are planned hunts by the Royal Hunting Guild for Wulfa once every two months. Only the Royal Hunting Guild is allowed to kill them for safety's sake, so they have to inform the castle of what happened when we get there. All soldiers are trained to be able to take apart a Wulfa though. It's their only real threat… besides wizards," he mumbled.

"How _are_ we going to get there?" Draco demanded with a great sigh of displeasure as he surveyed the wrecked carriage.

"The carriage is a lost cause. We'll be traveling by horseback, of course," the commander declared as he approached, wiping the blood off his sword with his red cape. "You do know how to ride, don't you?"

The younger blonde ruffled visibly, with a sharp retort on his tongue as he opened his mouth.

"Consider who you are speaking to, Commander. Of course he knows how to ride," Lucius snapped with an imperious glare down on the shorter man.

The commander scowled up at the taller veela before turning back to Harry when he spoke.

"An Elvin horse may be different to him, but I'm sure he'll be fine," the Auror interrupted.

"Of course! A son of yours should pick up the differences easily enough and be able to adjust." He turned to count horses once more. "Marcaunon, you will be riding with your mate."

"That's perfectly fine." Harry answered distractedly. He was examining his blades to make sure all the blood was gone before he sheathed them again and looked up. "Draco will have his own horse, I trust."

The commander seemed confused as to who Draco was before he suddenly guessed it.

"Hmm, I supposed that will be fine. Maeron and Nendir can ride tandem and your boy can have his own mount."

"Many thanks." Harry's smile was a bit lopsided as he rose to firmly shake the other man's arm.

As the commander stalked away, Lucius turned to Harry and growled lowly.

"Why the fuck are we treated like low-class citizens by these buffoons?" he hissed. "I feel like the fifth wheel to a carriage every time he speaks to you or about Draco! Can he not ask a question without being demeaning of me, then fawning over you?"

"Though most elves are polite to everyone, they have no faith in most other races because of past transgressions, including my own. It is only through great feats of strength and courage that they grow to trust people. It was much the same for me when I first came here. I was treated as if I were a barbarian who didn't know how to string a bow or speak properly. It was only through great toils that they accepted me and realized how competent I was. That's why I asked that Draco have his own horse. If they see how well he can ride, then they will realize what a fabulous parent he had and it will shine well on you."

Draco looked pale for a moment, but then he resolved with himself that he would make his father proud easily with his riding.

"I still don't like it," Lucius grumbled as he leaned into Harry for a kiss.

"I understand. It will get better once we have gotten to the castle. They will all treat you like the Malfoys you are there."

This seemed to placate the veela and he nodded after another kiss.

Harry turned to Draco with a smile. "Elvin horses are only different in their sheer beauty and grace. It's a much smoother ride, and so you have to be more fluid in the saddle. Find your rhythm with your horse, and I'm sure you'll be fine."

"That's the only difference?" Draco scoffed with a cocky hand on his hip.

"Well, that and a bit of Elvish words spoken while riding. They are command words, mostly. You should be able to get on without them though," Harry murmured, more to himself than the now faltering blonde. He began walking away to the pile of supplies they were bringing back that were now being distributed equally to the horses.

"What words?" He demanded with a pout, "Harry?"

"We should get moving," the commander announced. "Everyone saddle up in the arrangements I gave you."

It was then that the wizards realized the Wulfa had been mostly dismantled and the remainder of it was now obscured in the bushes, out of sight.

Nendir brought two fine horses over to Harry and Draco and passed both men a set of embroidered reins.

"Many thanks, my friend," Harry called to the elf as he returned to his own mount with Maeron.

Draco looked over his black horse with appreciation. These horses were all _beautiful_. They all seemed extremely intelligent under their glossy coats and silky manes. Their eyes held a deep intelligence that made Draco feel slightly awkward.

He turned to see Harry scratching his mount behind her ear and whispering soothing words to her in Elvish while he rubbed her nose. Harry was pulling Lucius closer to him and showing him how to do the same. The horse seemed to take to Lucius just fine, which gave Draco confidence as well.

The younger blonde let his hand run along the horse's flank and withers so that it (a quick glance revealed "it" was a "he") knew he was approaching his front. Draco stood before his horse, gently petting its nose and scratching under its chin lightly.

"Can you understand me?"

The horse snorted and bumped his head against Draco's chest irritably.

"Uh, you and me… we're going to…" Nothing he could say would sound intelligent whatsoever, so Draco glanced around to make sure he wasn't being watched before he leaned in to his horse and whispered, "Is it alright if I ride you?"

The blonde wizard was suddenly startled to feel warmth against his side. He turned to see Harry casually move something into his hand as he leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

As Harry turned back to his mount, Draco looked at what was in his hand and smirked like the Slytherin he was.

"How about we make a bargain? You help me look good in front of this general guy and I give you this sugar cube," Draco whispered sweetly as he showed his horse he wasn't bluffing.

His horse whinnied, and he took that for a good sign as he put the cube in his breast pocket.

With a small smile, he mounted smoothly from the left side and turned to see Harry and Lucius already mounted and watching him with twin smirks.

"Not a word," Draco growled dangerously to them as he forced a blush down from his cheeks. Really; he hadn't just been conspiring with his horse –honest!

Lucius chuckled softly as he turned his attention back to the man he had his arms around. He currently had his entire body, including his legs, pressed against his mate, and after a long day (few hours) of walking, it felt heavenly.

"Let's go!" the commander called suddenly, and all parties began moving in some kind of a formation. Harry clicked his tongue and whistled softly and his mount began to walk then trot.

Draco clicked his tongue and dug his heels gently, but _his_ mount didn't seem to get the picture.

"You do want that sugar cube, don't you?" he hissed as he leaned over his horse's neck. The stallion bobbed its head and began trotting forward gracefully. The veela breathed a bit easier as he felt a breeze fly through his hair.

Finally, things were going well.

* * *

Now _this_ was more like it! What better way to spend one's vacation than at a castle that was larger and grander than their Manor, which was a difficult task.

They could see the castle even though they were still several miles from it. It was a welcome sight, as well as the luxurious thoughts it brought.

The ride from the Northern Gateway Forest, as it was called, to the castle had been a calm and quiet one. Draco had pictured soldiers to be louder and more ostentatious than this lot. They hadn't spoken much to each other, but the wizards suspected it was more because they were escorting others than their natural behavior. Still, they were surprisingly quiet and polite.

The scenery they passed was much the same as the forest they had started out in. All the trees were at least six feet in circumference with large roots digging into the earth. The path they traveled on was well worn and wide enough for four horses to travel side-by-side comfortably. Their encounters with creatures became more natural than the Wulfa and unicorn. Birds chirped and cawed happily in the sunny weather. Odd squirrels that were shaped more like cats, but could fly longer distances, traveled over their heads from tree to tree. The spiders were larger, and their webs more visible, but equally as harmless as their own world. All around them life continued on, disinterested of their presence.

Most of the elves were similar in features. They all had a distinct elegance to their faces and statures. They moved smoothly and spoke with a lilt in their tongue that made their voices very pleasant to listen to whether they spoke Elvish or English. They didn't all seem to be any particular height –proven by the short general- but their frames were all lithe and not bulky or fat. Each elf had smooth hair. None of their hair was curly or wavy, but it shined as if by magic and was long on all of them. He assumed that long hair was probably more of a style than a trait, but it was still something to note. There weren't a lot of elves around them at the moment (and he would have to wait until he saw more of them to make a broader judgment) but none of these elves had red hair, and black seemed a fairly uncommon color as well, but they were all beautiful in their own way.

Other than that, the elves seemed like regular soldiers. Their armor was a sleeveless hide of something… perhaps dragon. They wore gauntlets of the same material and boots to the knee. Varying weapons hung at their sides, though most of them at least _had_ a bow with them.

Draco slid his hand over his wand again, happy with the jolt of magic he felt from it, acknowledging that he could use magic again. That had been the most terrifying time of his life, and he was happy that it was through.

Okay, so the vacation hadn't started off particularly spectacularly, but he couldn't just pout about it for the rest of his time off from work. They had all come away from it without a scratch on any of them, and now they had arrived.

Finally.

* * *

Horns and trumpets sounded sonorously at their approach. An entire congregation of people bordered either side of the entrance to the kingdom as the gates opened.

They had already passed the main gates to the city of this kingdom which held the castle in the middle, but this tier of the kingdom was for homes and small farms of varying kinds. As they passed through the second tier gates, they entered a place of shops and stores. Places of crafts and wears were displayed everywhere.

It seemed as if a festival were in attendance. Hundreds of carts of goods and foods lined the main street of the kingdom. Children everywhere were running around playing and cheering. People were laughing and yelling and greeting their new guests with great enthusiasm.

Lucius was surprised to hear his mate's name called out by a great deal of people, but he was even more surprised to realize most of those calling out to him were children.

The guards indulged the crowd with small smiles as they led their charges through the main street and up to the castle where a great deal of socializing and partying seemed to be going on in the courtyard.

As everyone dismounted, servants approached to take their horses from them. As one boy went to take Draco's mount, the veela pulled at the boy's sleeve and said in a very commanding tone:

"See that he gets this after you've settled him in his stall." And he handed the boy the sugar cube.

"Yes, Sir," the boy squeaked as he left with horse and cube in hand.

"Marcaunon!" A cheer of jubilation went up at the shout from a familiar voice.

Harry laughed as he shook hands with Daeron. "Ever heard of 'over-doing it'?"

" 'If it's worth being done, it's worth being done properly', or 'Nothing's overdoing it when it comes to family.' Take your pick," the elf responded before turning with Harry to the blondes.

"This is my mate, Lucius Malfoy," Harry introduced, extending his hand for Lucius to take and approach them. Lucius did so cautiously, with a mask firmly in place, though he was at peace as he took his mate's hand. This introduction was purely for show, obviously, because they had met before, but Lucius didn't know how he would be treated in public by this elf.

"My name is Magnus Leo in your language and Daeron Raunion in my own. Please, call me Daeron."

The older veela and elf shook hands and Daeron turned to Draco expectantly. The other veela was beautiful beyond his wildest dreams. He felt an immediate draw and stepped closer to the shorter blonde. "This is Lucius' son, Draco Malfoy," Harry explained, continuing his introductions.

The elf bent to one knee before Draco and offered him his hand. Draco sneered at him for a moment before looking up to Harry in hidden desperation. The brunet tightened his eyes, telling Draco to go along with it. Draco's responding gaze was of defiance and sneering. The Auror's eyes narrowed on Draco, and he saw the power spark in them as a warning not to insult Daeron by refusing.

Draco roughly put his hand out, grabbed Daeron's outstretched one, and shook fiercely before releasing and walking to the other side of Harry, but staring around at his surroundings in dismissal.

Daeron turned to Harry and cocked his eyebrow in query. Harry shrugged with a smile and his hands in his pockets. _You thought it would be easy?_ his body-language asked silently.

The elf glanced to Lucius with a questioning look then back to Harry and the man sighed shaking his head. Daeron realized suddenly that Lucius had chased after Harry, not the other way around. Daeron had his work cut out for him to have to chase after a full-blooded-stubborn-Slytherin-Malfoy and a half-blooded-veela all in one man. He vaguely wondered if his task could get any harder.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : I've editted this story, mostly for grammar purposes, but as of Chapter 4, the plot has changed slightly. It's not a huge deal and you don't have to reread it if you don't want to, but I've changed the events of Chapter 4, taking some things out and adding a few scenes. However, mostly everything is superficial and you can just read on from there if you want.**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Come, enjoy the celebration!" Daeron called out with a broad smile. "It is in your honor, after all. I should tell you first that I will be your guide for the duration of your stay here, and that includes tonight's festivities. I am honored to share this time with you, so please don't think it's a burden onto me." Daeron took a deep breath before continuing with his charming smile. "There is also something else to explain before we are to start our travels around the kingdom; there are four main roads in this kingdom. If you look at the kingdom like a compass and consider the castle its center, then you can take direction easily. There are four main roads that lead off, or should I say _to_, the castle. Each is North, South, East and West, from the kingdom. Each street is named for its direction and the celebration is centered on two roads, East and South. The South road is the one you traveled on to get to the castle. The East road is where we should start because the most fun happens there. Oh, and Marcaunon," the elf added with a devious smile, "your little admirers have been asking for you all day!"

"What admirers?" Lucius demanded under his breath of his mate.

"Why does everyone call you 'Mar'cow'noun'?" Draco questioned suddenly. "It's been bothering me all day, and I kept being distracted."

"Marcaunon," Daeron corrected. "It means Ruler of the Home. It is Harry's name in Elvish."

"Ruler of the Home, huh?" Draco responded with a grin toward Harry. "You just get all the cool names, don't you?"

The Auror returned his smile. "Your name means 'dragon'; that's nothing to scoff at."

"Yeah, but my name means dragon in almost every language. At least yours is boring in one language and practically royalty in the next."

"Thanks a lot for that lovely sentiment."

"You are most welcome."

"Well, what are you doing still standing here?" Daeron asked jovially. "There are dozens of people that are anxious to see you again!"

"Yes; and where are these _people_ I've been hearing about?" Lucius growled with a firm grip on Harry's bicep; he didn't much appreciate being ignored.

"Here they come now!" Daeron called out with a laugh.

As the group of foreigners looked up, an army of little children came charging toward them.

"Marcaunon!" several of them shouted as they surrounded the group of foreigners. Many of them gaped up in awe at the two blondes, but a few were already hugging and jumping on Harry.

"You've come back!" they cheered.

"Do a magic trick!" others pleaded.

"Alright! Alright!" the dark-haired wizard conceded as he hugged them back and put down the children that had been jumping on him. "A magic trick for those that will watch."

This seemed to corral most of the little terrors to obediently step back and stare in awe, making sure to give Harry enough room to do his magic.

Harry gently elbowed Lucius' ribs with one brow raised and a crooked smile aimed his way as he gestured toward the kids with his thumb. "My admirers," he answered softly and Lucius' jealousy abated immediately. It had been a joke.

* * *

No matter where they walked people were happy to see them. Despite the commander's incessant rudeness earlier toward the veelas, everyone else seemed perfectly content, if not overjoyed, to interact with them.

At first, Lucius had thought that this was again because Harry was so popular among these people, but his theory turned out to be moot. Half the people they met didn't speak any differently to Harry than they did to Daeron or Draco. The other half only knew Daeron by his name and not his face, and only knew Harry by his reputation as the wizard that traveled between realms. The wizard, friend of elves, they called him. The veelas were more of a novelty and something to gawk over than Harry's presence presented, and it made Lucius feel good to be the center of attention in a good way.

It was very refreshing to walk around meeting people, hearing music and singing, and see dancing of various types throughout the streets of the kingdom. No one knew their names. No one cared much past what their race was and how long they'd be staying.

It was impossible for Lucius to be completely stoic, or straight-faced with everything that was going on around him, and he found himself walking around with a small smile on his face. A small smile that became a bit bigger when Harry slipped their hands together and entwined their fingers. The perfect vacation.

* * *

Lanterns littered the area, even though it was daylight, promising that the celebration would be carrying on far into the night.

Harry loved to approach the carts on the side of the streets to admire the talented crafts of elves and sample their food. He had pulled an old leather purse of coins from his traveling bag as soon as they had begun walking and had been buying things almost immediately. Lucius couldn't help smiling as he watched his mate. Of course, elves seemed to be extremely talented crafters, so everything Harry bought was either hand-carved wood, sturdy powerful metal, or beautifully carved jewels.

The food, Harry made Lucius try incessantly to see what he liked. Harry liked most of everything he tried, but Lucius didn't follow his tastes very far. It was too sour, tangy, spicy, or dry, and Lucius liked none of those things, least of all, together.

The one thing Lucius had come to love was their bread. He was a man who appreciated good bread, and that was at least one thing that the elves hadn't screwed up.

* * *

Draco had started on the East road with a frown. A certain royal elf had seen to it that they practically stepped forward with the same foot every time they moved. Okay, maybe that was exaggerating, but he couldn't move anywhere without being followed at some kind of distance. This Daeron person seemed interested in whatever interested Draco, and it was _really_ starting to annoy him.

The first few carts were trinkets, wooden flutes, toys, books, jewelry, and paintings. Draco saw several things that he liked earnestly, but he really didn't want to ogle over anything with his personal elf-shadow standing right there or asking _why_ he liked things. He was starting to drown in frustration when Harry suddenly grabbed Draco's shoulder and pulled him across the street to an older woman who was weaving things on a small loom. Her entire setup was filled with clothing, satchels, bracelets, cross-stitching, and everything else you could possibly imagine.

With a glance back Draco saw Lucius and Daeron standing awkwardly beside each other and talking tentatively. A surge of relief and gratitude soared through Draco now that he wasn't being followed. He nodded his thanks to Harry who was silently looking at him and his nod was returned.

"Greetings, Madam," Harry voiced sweetly and the woman smiled broadly at him. Draco was astonished to see that even for the woman's look of age, she seemed well kept up and only had a few wrinkles, one chipped tooth, and slightly yellow teeth to show for what must be her immense age.

"Greetings, younglings," she replied as she rose from her stool. "Can I get you two anything?"

"Yes, actually, I was wondering if you were the same woman I spoke with about half a year back." The woman's eyes squinted as she considered Harry seriously. "You wove a scarf for my werewolf friend?" he supplied and her eyes lit up.

"Oh, yes! I remember you now, Harry."

Draco whistled his amazement. "You've got a great memory."

She laughed. "Many thanks, youngling." She turned slowly back to Harry. "Is there something I can get for you?"

"Yes, another scarf of the same type, please. I'll pay for it now and come back for it when you've finished." He started to pull his purse out, but she swished her hand at him.

_Scarf?_ Draco asked himself, though outwardly he didn't show that the request seemed odd to him at all. _Why does he need a scarf? It's not too cold at all. Especially with the sun shining on us right now._

"You can pay me when you come for the scarf," she told him firmly. "How about something for _now _though? A charm for you, perhaps?" She hummed as she considered both Harry and Draco.

_A charm?_ Draco wondered mockingly. _She sells stupid charms? Man, Harry and I have to get out of here before she cons us into buying one or…_

"Could you weave a foe charm for my friend?" Harry asked suddenly, as if he had been struck by genius.

Draco looked inconspicuously to the Auror as if he'd gone mad.

"Of course!" she exclaimed happily.

_They're both nuts,_ Draco thought dryly. _But… maybe Elvin charms actually work?_

"What's a foe charm?" Draco asked as the woman gathered several pieces of leather and one red gem.

The woman dangled the leather strips with one hand and, whilst mumbling something, passed her other hand over them with the jewel. As her hand passed over the leather, it braided together intricately and in the middle of the bracelet was the red gem she had picked for him.

Draco was in awe of her skill. He couldn't feel the magic coming from her as she wove the bracelet, but he did feel a shift in the wind as she worked her form of magic.

"A foe charm will turn warm against your skin and stay that way unless someone with ill intent toward you is near," she told the blonde as she handed the bracelet over to him. Draco was still skeptical of this, but Harry elbowed him gently and nodded to show that this was for real. With a practiced ease the woman helped Draco put the charm around his left wrist and tied it expertly.

Harry pulled a coin from his purse and handed it to the woman. "Thank you, Madam."

"My pleasure, younglings. Stay safe."

"Thank you," they answered together as they began walking down that side of the road together.

In all the distractions, Draco had forgotten until then of his problem named Daeron. He suddenly glanced across the street and saw Lucius and Daeron walking together opposite of them.

"Ugh!" Draco groaned. "That royal ass has been tailing me since we got to the damn castle. I realize he's supposed to be our stupid guide, but you know the kingdom well enough; why does he have to come with us? _And_ why does he have to tag along next to me after my _every_ step?"

"He's just trying to be nice, Draco."

"I don't need his kind of nice. There are things that I wanted to look at, but he was always _hovering_." Sighing heavily, "Why can't it be just the three of us?"

Harry heard his friend and breathed deeply as he thought of a reply. Draco's new charm turned suddenly cooler against his skin a second before his ass was pinched.

"Ouch!" he shouted then realized that Harry had done it. "What the… (after a quick glance around to look for children) fuck was _that_ for?"

"Language, Draco," Harry teased as he dodged a blow from the blonde. The younger veela felt the urge to go chasing after him, and without any reason not to, he decided to indulge.

* * *

When Harry dragged Draco off across the street, Lucius moved to stand beside Daeron and stop him from going after the other veela, just by his intimidating presence.

"You're only pushing him away," Lucius stated blandly with a frown.

Daeron glared sidelong at him. "No, I'm not."

_How old are you again?_ Lucius thought cynically in his mind and mentally rolled his eyes. _Are too._

"He's not a woman," the older veela responded in a hushed voice. "He doesn't like people crowding him on any regular day; do you think he likes some stranger he just met doing it endlessly?"

"I know he's not a woman," the elf answered, his voice strained. "I just… I just want to be near him. I want to know what he likes. I want to buy him things and show him the world. I want to show him all the wonders of the Elvin Realm." The explanation took a lot of self-control from Daeron and he glanced wearily across the street to Draco. "He doesn't seem the least bit interested in me."

"That's because you're an ass," Lucius snapped, then sighed deeply when Daeron glared daggers at him. "He's a Malfoy. You can't just come at him straight on; you have to approach from the side slowly." The veela growled deeply and closed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm giving advice to you on how to seduce my son." After another pause and a brief sigh, Lucius continued, "He is near the edge right now, and you're about to push him off. He will start shouting at you soon if you don't pull your act together. When he goes to a booth find something else to look at. Keep walking along to the next booth, or try pointing something out to him that he might like. Don't hover around him. Don't ask him questions about something that he's looking at. And _don't_, under any circumstances, offer to buy him anything." The blonde finished, now allowing his gaze to find his mate briefly before returning to Daeron's astonished one.

After a few moments of speechlessness, Lucius added something he had been pondering as he explained how to go after Draco.

"If Harry had been the one to seduce me, he would have had to have gone about it like that. He couldn't have just knocked on my door and kissed me right then. We Malfoys are very suspicious of others. It takes a while to earn our trust and respect, but once you have it, the respect will stay with you for a long time, even if you lose our trust."

"So, you still don't trust me?" Daeron asked suddenly.

"No," was his flat reply. "But Harry does, and that means something to me because I trust _him_ with my life. By the time you have earned Draco's trust, you will probably have earned mine, let's put it that way."

Both men turned back to look across the street after a pause of accepted silence.

Harry and Draco were crowded together and leaning toward an old woman. Draco was saying something and Harry was holding his hand on the closest shoulder to him of Draco's. Lucius knew immediately that Harry's touch was calming Draco from the frustration he had been broadcasting earlier, whether or not Draco or Harry even knew that that was what he was doing.

"If Draco doesn't like being crowded, why does he allow it with Marcaunon?" The elf asked his question calmly, and seemed only as if he were trying to piece together the puzzle that was Draco.

"There are three reasons for that. One is that they have known each other for eight years, and have been confidants for a year. The second reason is because he is family; my mate, and therefore, has a connection to Draco. He is able to sooth him through that. The third reason is because he _trusts_ him. So, Draco allows Harry's closeness, and even mine, but we aren't very touchy feely with each other. It's not our way. He _is_ like that with Harry at times though, so I imagine he could be like that with… others." Lucius didn't really like divulging all this about his son. It almost felt like he was betraying some kind of pact with him by doing this, but if this man was Draco's mate, then Lucius was his best chance at figuring out Draco.

"Okay, so why can't I offer to pay for anything?" Daeron questioned with a furrowed brow.

"Because he's not a woman! He doesn't need to be treated like a damsel in distress who can't pay for her own fare. He is a Malfoy. He has a great deal of his own money and he will see it like you saying that his money isn't good enough."

Daeron breathed in deeply. Understanding Wizarding customs was peculiar and hard. Or perhaps it was just the Malfoys in general. "So, being a Malfoy is an extraordinary thing in your world? Not to sound rude or anything, but you use the name Malfoy like royalty. 'I am a prince/Malfoy and should be treated as such.' "

"We use our name because we are purebloods. It is… or was, anyway… close to royalty in our society. Our family is the most prestigious of them all, and our name hold… held… a lot of weight… it still does."

"But…" Daeron was still trying to wrap his head around this. Daeron hadn't encountered elves with these problems about money. "Royalty doesn't mind things being paid for, for them."

"He doesn't like people thinking that he can't take care of himself. He is a _man_ after all. Not a boy, and certainly no _woman_!" Lucius reminded sharply. "I find it hard to believe that royalty would want people with less money than they have to pay for things that they can surely afford themselves, but… this is _your_ world, so I will take your word for it." The blonde finished with a sigh. "They're moving now. Let's keep up."

Draco glanced over to them and continued talking with Harry for a while as they walked, and Lucius returned his focus to the elf beside him.

"Thank you," Daeron whispered sincerely. "I really appreciate everything you have said to me. I will take it all into consideration."

"You are welcome." Lucius nodded vaguely to him.

A moment later they both heard Draco shout and curse from across the street before he gave chase to Harry. Both school-mates had smiles on their faces and Lucius was amused to see them chase each other quickly before Harry ran over and jumped into Lucius' arms, but with his feet still firmly planted on the ground.

"Save me!" he cried with a laugh.

Draco was right behind him and came up short when Harry clamped himself to his father. With a huff, Draco crossed his arms and smirked with a twinkle of mischief coming to his eyes. "I'll get even with you Harry James Potter."

"Looking forward to it," Harry responded as he released Lucius from his grip and took his hand again. "Maybe I should get one of those bracelets for myself."

"It would constantly be cold."

"This is true." Harry nodded as well. He would always be in danger in some form or another. It was pointless to have something cold telling him the same thing he already knew.

"I'm hungry," Draco declared, forgetting about Harry for now.

"Preferably something that _tastes_ good would be nice," Lucius added snidely.

"Someone around here has to be selling cooked meat," Harry announced, his eyes roving the street for the sign of smoke.

"Near the end of the road, I think there's an exceptional stand selling wonderful food," Daeron added helpfully and began to lead the way for the group so that he wasn't right next to any of them.

"Did you talk about the stalking thing?" Harry whispered to Lucius so that Draco couldn't hear.

The blonde nodded his head slightly before turning to his son. "So, what is this I hear about a bracelet? You're usually not one for jewelry aside from the Malfoy ring."

"It's a charm that is supposed to turn cold when someone harboring ill intent toward me is near. It turned cool just before a certain person who-shall-remain-nameless pinched me so rudely."

"That's quite handy unless it only reacts just before something happens."

"No," Harry interrupted. "I hadn't been harboring anything toward Draco until I decided to pinch him so it really only had a second to respond to my intent, and I don't imagine it turned very cold because I wasn't going to hurt him badly. I'm pretty sure the change in temperature is regulated by the amount of danger in tow."

"Well, in that case, it will come in _very_ handy."

* * *

By the time their group of four had eaten and reached the end of the main street of the celebration, they had arrived at a large paddock area surrounded with anxious people and quite a few soldiers.

"What's this?" Draco asked, leaning toward Harry rather than posing the question to the elf traveling with them.

"It looks like a tournament ring," Lucius voiced, causing both his son and Harry to look at him with raised brows.

"Lucius is right. See; there are the archery targets, the riding barrels (horsemanship –riding around the barrels as fast as possible and returning to the start before your opponent does), the riding target polls (for riding and aiming at targets at the same time), the arena for swordplay, and the show-riding course with jumps and everything."

Elves were already riding around the obstacles, but at a more leisurely pace, as if they were practicing before the tournament was to begin.

"I see what you mean." Draco nodded. "I've been to something like this, but it was a Wizarding thing. I don't recognize most of these games."

"Actually," a male elf interjected. The group turned to see what must have been the officiator of the tournament if one could go by the badge and clipboard. He was smiling brightly at the group and Harry in particular, "we were hoping that Marcaunon would start the tournament off for us with a little display."

Harry warily turned to look at the official with a glare cornering his eye. "What _kind_ of display?"

"And who _are_ you, anyway?" Lucius demanded sharply.

"Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Nyal; I am the organizer and deciding judge of this tournament." He smiled and put out his hand, but no one offered to shake it and he awkwardly moved it to push back his hair instead with an uncomfortable cough. "We would love a bit of swordplay, but you can choose whichever course you'd like. You are the returning champion though, so we were hoping that you would treat us with a display. It's just for fun," the elf emphasized.

Draco and Lucius were looking at Harry in utter awe. He had been champion in this tournament among all elves? No wonder the elves respected him so much.

Harry sighed heavily. "I wasn't _really_ the champion among them all. I'm only human so they curved my score. It was more like, 'considering what we expected of you, you impressed us enough to be champion.' "

There was snickering from the people within hearing distance, but Nyal was shaking his head with a broad smile.

"You're too modest. You didn't win _all_ of the categories, but you did excellent in all of them. You were really close to winning."

"If by close you mean that I placed in the top ten of each competition then I guess you could say that I was _very_ close," he mumbled sarcastically.

Where did this elf get off gathering the attention of everyone in the area and declaring that he wanted Harry to do some kind of display?

Draco glanced surreptitiously to his side to see how Daeron was handling this. The elf was fuming and glaring daggers at this official who began to shrink into himself and look back to Harry when he caught Daeron's heated gaze. He didn't appear to be capable of backing off though, despite his quivering knees.

Harry breathed in tiredly and held the breath as he considered what to do. He really didn't feel like more activity. He'd been up since practically yesterday with only a few hours of sleep, followed by trekking five miles through a forest, battling a Wulfa from which he now had an extremely sore shoulder, and defending… his family. There were a lot of people present who were eagerly listening for his response though and several competitors who anxiously leaned closer for his answer.

"Actually, I believe there has already been scheduled a separate beginning ceremony, Nyal," Daeron stated, stepping forward and grabbing the other elf's clipboard of parchments. "I recall something about an archery demonstration starting off the tournament from our best archers in the castle guard. I don't believe that Jael, Arman or Roaran would be too pleased to hear that their presentation was either delayed or canceled because of a mortal, and that would have negative repercussions on my charges' holiday in our lands… and _that_ I simply can not allow. You'll have to forget your imaginings, Nyal. I am so terribly sorry."

"Yes… of course." Nyal grabbed his papers back from Daeron, sharing an intense glower with the elf before bowing to the others and moving on. "Forgive my interruption."

Harry couldn't begin to describe how thankful and relieved he was to not have to perform in front of this crowd. He had hated being the center of attention since he was a child. He met Daeron's eyes and held them as he said sincerely, "Thank you, my friend."

"There is nothing for you to thank me for. He was acting totally above his position by demanding anything of guests."

Draco watched Daeron's entire gallantry with keen eyes. Perhaps this elf wasn't so bad after all.

Harry laughed deeply with relief at the whole situation. "Okay, now that that crisis has been averted, do you want to stay and watch, or go do something else?"

"Something else," Draco pleaded. "_Anything_ else." The tournament had seemed like a good idea at first until he'd nearly seen Harry dragged into it, and now he wanted to be very far away from it before someone else demanded they _all_ participate.

"We should head to the Great Hall," Daeron suggested as he gazed off toward the sun. It was half an hour from going down. "The story-tellers and bards should be making their way there by now."

"Bards?" Draco asked, this time speaking to Daeron, with a lesser degree of caution that both Harry and Lucius picked up on.

"Yes, bards are men with good voices, and good tales to tell. They play instruments and sing ballads, and they're very entertaining."

With a shrug Draco said, "Why not?"

"We should like to find our rooms first, though," the older blonde insisted after thinking about the coming party. He had been traveling and sweating in these clothes for _far _too long. "I would like to refresh myself before this celebration."

"Very good." Daeron nodded several times and began to lead again. "Follow me."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry about the ridiculously long wait! I just received a reminder from a reviewer that I hadn't updated in far too long and I just happened to have the time to get back to this story. I had wanted to rehash this story for a while and the work it entailed felt way too daunting to take on, but I finally worked through the whole thing, and you're getting an update because I finished.

A/N 2: I actually reworked Chapter 4 most notably, removing the tournament scene and adding a few others. The rest is mostly just grammar work and slight adjustments. You don't have to reread it to understand anything, so don't feel like you have to.

A/N 3: Thank you for sticking with me! I love you all!

* * *

Chapter 5

The castle was enormous and despite having such a large manor for a home, Lucius quickly lost count of the numerous halls and corridors they passed through. Perhaps it was because this place was new to him that he couldn't keep track of their path, and he had grown up in his manor so the many halls there were familiar to him. Harry, on the other hand, had no such problems with where Daeron was leading them, or getting his bearings by asking about where other areas were in relation to their rooms. Their elf guide would say the garden was through here or that the kitchens were beyond there and Harry would nod and reference it to some other room so that he understood exactly where everything was, but so that Lucius and Draco were equally as confused as to where they even were inside the castle. It was disgusting how easily Harry navigated.

By the time they had made it to the guest wing of the castle, Daeron felt comfortable merely giving Harry directions down a few more halls to his and Lucius' room so that he could walk Draco to his room and meet back at their separating junction.

"Why aren't our rooms closer together?" Draco asked Daeron with a scowl.

"Despite the size of the castle, we only have so many guest bedrooms and we already have quite a few of them filled by other guests of the palace."

_And I want you closer to my room,_ Daeron continued internally as he began leading Draco down a separate corridor from his father.

As Draco walked beside his Elvin guide, he pondered what he should wear to this party and what they'd be doing. He pulled his shrunken bag from his pocket and fluidly returned it to its proper size as he walked. He could see in his peripheral that Daeron was watching him perform magic and it sent a thrill to his ego that this elf was so interested in him when he had already been exposed to other magic users before. Despite not liking Daeron at first, Draco found himself strutting a bit more than usual as he walked down the hall and showing off a bit with his magic –typical Draco behavior for forcing people to adore his magnificence.

"This will be your room," Daeron explained as he opened the door for Draco to inspect the inside. "I shall wait just down the hall for you to change, and escort you back to the celebration… if that's alright with you?"

"I _suppose_… if it's your duty to guide me, then I don't mind waiting for you."

Daeron fought the grin back that threatened to crack his face in two until Draco had shut the door to his room. The adorable little veela was so arrogant and demanding… the perfect aristocrat. He wouldn't allow Daeron the pleasure of knowing that he had no idea how to get back to the Great Hall so he would make it seem like he was doing Daeron a favor by allowing him to guide him around.

It was, however, very nice to know that Daeron was getting better at reading into Draco's personality.

* * *

Finally arriving at their room, Lucius felt like doing nothing more than collapsing, but having marched an intimidating distance through both the Forbidden Forest and Elvin Forest then ridden rather uncomfortably on a horse for roughly two hours, then walked around the city area for another length of time, Lucius wasn't sure whether he wanted to sit or stand for comfort. His hips, thighs, knees, ankles, and feet hurt. After silently complaining to himself about all of his aches, Lucius looked around to find Harry reaching into a stretch that beautifully accentuated his back until he suddenly jerked his arms back down and cradled his shoulder. If Lucius hadn't been watching he wouldn't have known that Harry was in pain because not even a whimper came from him as he slowly massaged the area.

"Are you hurt?"

"Just a bit sore."

A half-lie. That sudden jerking out of his stretch implied a great deal more than a bit of soreness. He decided to let it go, however, because they had people waiting on them and they had to get going.

As Lucius resized his bag and began searching through it for clothes he kept Harry in his sights as the man began stripping himself of his weapons and changing clothes. As he removed his shirt, Lucius could see bruising beginning to form around his shoulder, but it didn't seem particularly violent to demonstrate any kind of dislocation or damaged problems so Lucius pushed the matter to the back of his mind for later and decided to keep a close eye on his mate. It wasn't an easy matter to manage when said-mate was an Auror and clearly capable of hiding his pain easily.

After they had both finished changing, Lucius wrapped his arm around Harry's waist and pulled him closer for a sudden kiss. The shorter man was pleasantly surprised by the kiss, and greeted Lucius with a smile when they parted.

"Ready?"

"I was born ready."

* * *

Daeron had been right. They soon caught the gist of these bards and were enthralled by their lyrics. All of the songs were joyous ones of battles won, scores settled, triumphs of love, game caught on hunting trips, and a great deal of dirty ones as well.

The tunes were quite catchy and almost everything rhymed, making it very easy to remember and pick up on songs. Half the songs were in English and the other half were in Elvish, but the rhyming and humor came through even as Daeron and Harry explained the funniest of the Elvish songs.

Food was soon organized and laid out, and everyone hunkered down for a great meal. The bards took their own breaks for food and soon there was an orchestra of music to fill the hall as stories were told in exaggeration, drinks were clinked, laughing became louder, and everyone had a drunken good time.

By the end of the meal, people were starting to pull others up from their seats and dance around the Hall. As people started to dance, the music turned to more of a springy step.

As a thrumming tempo of drums and flutes rang out through the Hall, a little girl no older than ten charged up to Harry. "Please dance with me, Marcaunon?" she begged with her little hands folded together.

"Oh, you'll have to ask my mate for permission, I'm afraid," Harry answered somberly as he gestured to Lucius who had been feeling rather left out until that point. The blonde glanced at Harry, wondering what the heck he was doing this for, but it seemed that Harry only wanted Lucius to know that they (as mates) came first, not anyone else.

"You may have one dance with him, but then I get him all to myself." He said it in a teasing way, but Harry knew that he was mostly serious, and he was okay with that.

"Alright, then, my lady, may I have your hand?" The wizard reached out his hand for the little girl's and she gladly gave it to him.

With a cheerful song chirping in the background, the little girl stepped gently onto Harry's feet whilst holding on to his hands and allowed him to dance for both of them.

Lucius stepped back to admire the scene fully. It was completely adorable and he loved watching Harry like this.

Once a song had played through Harry gently put the little girl down and bowed to her, causing her to blush and thank him profusely. She turned and thanked Lucius as well before running off again.

"Now that that is through with, I believe it is my turn," Lucius proclaimed as he took Harry's waist in one arm and his hand in the other.

"Nothing like asking first or anything," Harry huffed adorably before giving in. He placed his hand on Lucius' arm, and without warning began leading in the dance.

"Where'd you learn to dance?" Lucius asked with a smirk.

"Fourth Year Triwizard Tournament Ball," Harry answered guardedly.

"It shows," Lucius murmured with amusement.

Harry huffed and stopped moving. He stepped back from his mate with a pout. "Are you making fun of me? That's the only stupid dance I know, and I only did it once."

_Uh, oh, I ruffled his feathers. Better fix this before everyone starts staring,_ the veela thought worriedly.

"I was only teasing you," he placated softly as he stepped closer to his mate, but Harry wasn't having any of it as he crossed his arms stubbornly.

* * *

From their seats, Draco and Daeron were watching with amusement as Harry and Lucius had a spat on the dance floor.

"Maybe we should aid them?" Daeron suggested after it seemed like this might actually turn into a fight.

Draco exhaled deeply as he nodded. "I guess you're right. What do you suggest?"

"I'll ask Lucius to dance, and you can ask Harry to dance. That way they both have time to cool off."

"That seems reasonable, but I don't know how Father will feel about… no offense, but… dancing with you."

The elf raised his brow coolly in amusement. "Would _you_ rather dance with him?"

A funny expression crossed the veela's face. "Good point. So, you ask Father, and I'll ask Harry. Let's go before they do any more damage."

* * *

Harry was just walking away from Lucius to fume for a while when Draco came up to him and took his hand. "May I have this dance?" With great relief Harry accepted, and allowed Draco to lead. He didn't know how to dance for shit, and at least Draco, who had been schooled in these things as a child, would keep them from looking like idiots out there, whilst also being considerate about it, unlike _some_ blondes…

Lucius grumpily turned to Daeron. "What did you do that for?"

"So that we could trade partners after this dance is over, of course," the elf countered coolly. "You can have your mate back and I can dance with Draco."

Despite his earlier argument with his mate, Lucius couldn't help the Slytherin grin that twitched his lips. They were already rubbing off on Daeron, whether the royal knew it or not.

"Fine then, but I lead."

"That's fine," Daeron conceded with a nod. They proceeded to dance together with as large a gap between them as politely possible without looking incompetent. When the tune was almost through, Lucius led their dancing closer to his son and mate, and stopped beside them.

Harry, who was by now in a better mood, smiled at the interruption.

"May I have this dance?" Lucius asked formally with a bow and Harry acknowledged that with a raised brow and an extension of his hand.

"You may," he answered politely, and they gracefully spun off in the opposite direction with Lucius leading.

Daeron glanced to Draco with a smile. "I don't suppose you'd still want to keep dancing?"

Draco looked the elf over critically from top to bottom before declaring casually, "I might."

"Then, may I have this dance?"

The veela appeared to be seriously considering this before agreeing nonchalantly.

* * *

Harry and Lucius smiled secretively as they noticed Daeron and Draco dancing together.

"It looks like they're getting along," Harry mumbled tentatively. "I don't want to jinx it… but, I think he might be the one for Draco."

Lucius hummed in agreement. "I don't believe there is anything to jinx. I think you're right." They shared another smile before Lucius leaned down and kissed his mate. The kiss was innocent at first, but as Harry increased its pressure they stopped dancing.

When they pulled apart Harry was the first to speak.

"I think we should head up to our room. I know you're tired, and I am too."

"That sounds wonderful," Lucius agreed with an exhausted sigh.

"I'll go tell Draco and Daeron."

Harry maneuvered gracefully around the other dancers to find the elf and veela pair. Lucius watched as the couple stopped and spoke to Harry briefly. Harry was telling them that they were turning in for the night. Daeron was probably offering to show them to their rooms even though they already had been to them earlier to change, but Harry was shrugging him off and telling them to keep dancing. After a pause of indecision Draco and Daeron did keep dancing and Harry made his way back to Lucius.

"Let's go."

"Lovely."

Lucius pondered to himself as he walked whether it was peculiar that he knew what his mate had said to the elf and Draco without actually hearing him say it…. A small sneer formed on his lips as the thought came to him that maybe Harry's Gryffindor side was rubbing off on Lucius as well.

* * *

Lucius was extremely glad that _Harry_ knew where their rooms were, because Lucius didn't think that he could find his way back to the Great Hall if his life depended on it. They were so far from the Hall now, that the only way to hear the music from the Hall was to stick your head out a window. The veela _could_, however, find the gardens, as their rooms were right near a staircase that led to them.

The night air was chilly, but thankfully a fire had been started in their rooms by someone, so when they walked in it was very warm.

Lucius forewent looking around the rooms and made a beeline for the biggest most comfortable looking chair in the room. With a great breath of relief, Lucius leaned back in the armchair and gazed into the fire for a peaceful moment before glancing up to find his personal Auror.

Harry was looking around their rooms, through the sitting area, glancing into the bedroom then opening a glass door into what Lucius assumed was the bathroom. They had only had time to change earlier, but now his mate was examining the rooms more closely.

As the younger man was scanning the bathroom curiously, Lucius noticed him rubbing his right shoulder. The veela scowled at the action, remembering that Harry had been doing that earlier when they had been changing; he'd said that he'd jarred it when they'd rolled away from the Wulfa.

"Come here, Harry. Sit with me," the blonde demanded without raising his voice. Harry glanced cagily at him for the almost-command; he didn't appreciate being ordered around, not even as an Auror, and most people knew that. "Please?" Lucius asked tenderly, reaching a hand out to Harry as if he were asking for another dance.

It had been a long day, and Harry acquiesced with a sigh as he approached Lucius. When Harry took Lucius' hand, his mate guided him to sit between his spread legs on the same chair. He complied because there was obviously enough space for both of them to be comfortable and he enjoyed the heat of Lucius' body against his back. As soon as Harry found a comfortable position on the chair, Lucius reached forward and began to massage his right shoulder.

Harry stiffened for a moment before turning to goo in the blonde's hands. It wasn't long before Lucius' ministrations were earning him moans and groans of relief from his lover.

The dark-haired youth suddenly reached for the bottom of his shirt and pulled it quickly over his head before returning to his position so Lucius could continue with those magical hands.

"Do we have any salves in the bathroom?" Lucius questioned after nearly ten minutes of tending to his mate.

"I…" Harry huffed tiredly, his eyes drooping; he had almost been asleep. That made Lucius smile in satisfaction that his actions had made the unstoppable Auror nearly fall to sleep in his grasp. "I don't know. What are you looking for?" he asked with a yawn.

"Perhaps there is a muscle rub that will help your shoulder?"

Harry hummed in understanding for a moment before sitting up a bit bonelessly, but straighter than before in any case.

"Let's take a bath," he suggested before turning around to look at Lucius. "I kind of just want to be clean then go to bed."

"Whatever you want, Harry."

* * *

The aristocrat thought the bath had been lovely. Very hot water, various scented oils, and the soft music that could still be heard from the open window had made for a calming and relaxing time. It wasn't until Harry went scavenging through the shelves in the room and found a jar of salve that the bath became indescribably pleasurable.

Wet and naked, Harry came walking back over to the tub and shook the bottle at Lucius.

"Guess what I found?"

The blonde cocked his eyebrow, forming his cocky reply to that open-ended question.

Harry interrupted before the veela could formulate whatever response he'd been working on. "It's a salve for aches and pains; a massage salve."

Lucius' other eyebrow joined the first, but he remained quiet this time as Harry sat on the edge of the tub and reached into the water. It was quite to the blonde's surprise when he felt his foot lifted into the air. He was so surprised he nearly lost his balance and lost his head under the surface of the water. When he recovered his equilibrium he felt Harry begin to work the salve into his aching foot and he rejoiced the feeling. It was just like earlier in the day when they had stopped for a rest in the forest, but this time there was an amazing salve that seeped into his skin and into his very muscles to soothe the pain by working with the hot water fabulously.

"Thank you, love," Lucius whispered tenderly. He rubbed his temple for a moment as he began to drowse.

"Are you feeling ill?"

"I think the food here doesn't agree with me." The pureblood didn't want to seem like a frail petulant child, but he also didn't want to hide anything from his mate. Most of the food here just didn't sit well in his stomach for some reason. "I'll sleep it off well enough."

As Harry was finishing with the other foot, he noticed Lucius beginning to nod off, and he smiled at the sight.

"To bed then."


End file.
